The Unknown Jinchuriki
by BabyKuei
Summary: A story about a young girl from the Village Hidden by the Moon. She gains a great power and starts a journey to be allowed back home. She falls in love with a certain red haired sand ninja on her travels. Will love blossom in the desert?  more to come
1. It has been found

The Unknown Jinchuriki

by Kokuei

AN: All Copyrighted Material belongs to the original creators. I do not own Naruto. I own only My OC characters in this story that is all.

Prologue

Back when the Sage of the Six Paths sealed the Chakra of the Ten-Tailed Beast, he realized there was a part to the Ten-tails' chakra that was different from the rest, it had an foreboding feeling. The sage didn't want to unleash this part of the chakra onto the world and instead started writing a prison scroll to seal it away. When splitting the chakra into the Tailed Beasts the sage sealed away this extra chakra in the scroll instead of giving it form. He felt it was too dangerous to entrust to anyone, and instead he sent it to the far corner of the world, to be guarded at an ancient library. The scroll was stored in the library, which was surrounded by a small growing town that would eventually become Getsugakure in the Land of the Moon. The scroll was stored in the library and wouldn't be touched for years to come.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1 - It has been found<strong>

Mika Kyosei was just a normal 9 year old in Getsugakure. She had platinum blond hair like her mother and ice blue eyes like her father. Her parents were in charge of the ancient library now known just as the towns library, its special past forgotten. Anya Kyosei was a woman who just radiated confidence. She had platinum blond hair like her daughter and wore the standard pearl white jonin vest of the village. Mika's mother handled the public sections of the library. Aisu Kyosei was a man who many looked up to, he was a skilled tactician, and respected throughout with village. He also wore the vest of a jonin of the village, but his vest was slightly different with red edging around the vest. Mika's father was in charge of the military section where all types of strategy, Intel, and jutsu scrolls were stored.

One day while adding some new scrolls to the collection, Aisu saw that some scrolls had fallen. He went to go pick them up when a shuriken barely missed his head and imbedded into a shelf. Aisu jumped back and drew out a hidden kunai, his eyes searching around for the assailant. It was when a second wave of shuriken were thrown that Aisu found the attackers location.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Aisu said making 3 clones of himself and surrounding the attacker.

"You made a bad move coming here..."

The attacker looked at the clones and back at the original and chuckled behind a orange swirled mask, a black cloak with red clouds concealed his body.

"There is something here I need and I will not let you stand in my way."

The figure disappeared in a flash and reappeared in front of Aisu and delivered a heavy punch to his gut, knocking the wind out from his lungs and bringing Aisu to his knees. The stranger then headed back to the stack where he had removed the scrolls and stared at the wall. In the wall was what appeared to be a safe with an intricate seal protecting it.

"Finally I have found it, now I'm one step closer to my goals" The stranger said as he slammed his hand into the safe, chakra dispersing as the seal shattered along with the door. Inside was a single scroll, tightly bound. The stranger smirked and began to open the scroll when a voice pierced the silence of the library.

"Daaaaaaad? Where are you? I heard a loud noise, are you ok?" Mika said as she was speed walking through the shelves trying to find her father and hoping he wasn't hurt.

Aisu's eyes widened when he heard his daughters voice, what would happen if she found them? He noticed the attention of the stranger was distracted for a moment and Aisu took the moment and jumped the stranger, throwing him back into a shelf, scrolls falling to the floor. The scroll in the strangers hands was knocked to the ground and rolled only to stop at Mika's feet as she looked at her dad and the stranger a look of fear in her eyes.

"Mika... NO! RUN AWAY! GRAB THAT SCROLL AND GET TO YOU MOTHER, HAVE HER RAISE THE ALARM! GO NOW RUN!" Aisu yelled to his daughter as he built up chakra his eyes changing revealing his clan's kekkei genkai.

Mika picked up the scroll and ran for her life, scared. Her dad was strong he would be ok, but she needed to get to her mom and get help for her dad. She ran through the stacks taking every shortcut she knew from years of playing in here.

Aisu threw the stranger to the ground as he started forming hand seals. Two chakra wolves were summoned and tried to attack the stranger. They both erupted in odd black flames and dispelled.

"I'm through playing games, you will not stop me from my goals." The stranger disappeared again and Aisu braced himself for another attack but one never came. It was then Aisu realized he was going after Mika and he ran off to help his daughter.

Mika had gotten near the entrance of military archives when a kunai exploded in front of her and knocked her to the floor. Mika looked up to see the man in the cloak walking towards her.

"I believe you have something that's mine kid and I would like it back" He said, his eyes seeing the scroll still in Mika's hands.

"NO! I won't, it's not yours!" Mika clutched the scroll tight not planning to hand it over.

The stranger grabbed the scroll and tried to yank it from Mika's grasp, the child wasn't letting go.

"I SAID NO!" Mika held the scroll tighter as her hand accidently pressed down on a hidden release.

The locks on the scroll released, falling to the floor, as powerful chakra started to leak from the scroll. The chakra grew in intensity and released a blinding reddish black light. The immense power drawing the attention of everyone able to sense it and alerting every ninja in the village that something wasn't right at the library as they rushed there.

"GIVE IT TO ME NOW!" The stranger said still trying to wrestle the scroll away from Mika only to get blasted back by the chakra from the scroll.

The scroll opened revealing the sage of six paths seal. Mika looked at the seal in awe and as if she was being forced she placed her hand on the seal. The seal shimmered as the blood red ink started to travel up Mika's arm and wrap itself around her body. Paw markings formed on her hands and feet, seals formed on her arms and chest, and on her stomach the seal formed its lock in the shape of the Eight Trigrams Seal. The markings all faded leaving no trace of what happened as Mika passed out. The light dissipated just as jonin came busting into the room and surrounding the stranger.

The stranger looked at Mika in rage and would have killed her if they were not interrupted by the jonin. He cursed and disappeared in a puff of smoke as Aisu finally got to the scene and rushed to his daughter's side.

"Mika...MIKA!"

Aisu picked up his daughter and held close and sighed in relief seeing her still breathing. He looked to the jonin and then to the scroll now blank. Aisu picked it up and started at it.

"He came here for a blank scroll...why?"

Aisu was perplexed but didn't have time for thinking as the Tsukikage came walking in and straight to him. Aisu stood up, still holding Mika in his arms.

"SIR"

"What happened here Aisu? I was able to feel the disturbance all the way from the Kage compound." the Kage said.

"I don't know Kage, sir. I was taking some scrolls to the shelves when I was attacked by a stranger. He knocked me down and retrieved this scroll from a hidden safe even I never knew about. Mika heard the noise and came to see what happened. I attacked the stranger and held him. Telling Mika to take the scroll and run to her mother." Aisu said as he handed the scroll to the Tsukikage.

"The scroll is blank though sir, so I am unsure why exactly it was the target..." Aisu said as he turned his head to see his wife standing at the entrance. He followed her eyes down to Mika.

"Mika!" Anya Kyosei screamed as she ran over to her husband and pulled her daughter from his arms and started looking her over.

"Honey Its ok. Mika is fine, she just got a bad scare and passed out. Please go take her to her room while I take care of some business with the Kage." Aisu said to his wife as she and Mika were escorted to Mika's room and a guard placed outside.

"Aisu, You did a good job. I know not why the attacker wanted this scroll or what is so special about it. However you and your family have had a traumatic event happen to you. I am ordering you and your wife to take some time off and take care of your daughter. I will have others watch the library and I will make sure you are guarded at all times by an ANBU member, in case the attacker comes back." said the Tsukikage as he took the scroll and headed back to his office and Aisu went to his family.

The secret of the scroll was never found out, it just appearing to be a blank scroll and the attacker never returned to the village. Life went on as normal for the Kyosei family and the events of the day were forgotten.

* * *

><p>3 years have passed since that day and Mika was graduating soon from the Getsugakure Ninja Academy.<p>

Mika's class was outside on the training field. She wasn't paying much attention to the sensei and instead was paying more attention to the clouds. It was just stupid clone jutsu, why they needed to learn it was beyond her, they were easily seen through and dispelled just as fast. Koji-Sensei insisted that it was a valuable ninja skill and would help them out of tricky spots. Mika on the other hand believed it to be pointless and could never successfully perform the jutsu or any jutsu that required a carefully balanced chakra control for it always seemed to backfire in her face. She would use to little and a jutsu would just not work or she would use too much and in the case of her clones it would blow up.

"Ok, Mika, you're up next. Perform a simple clone jutsu making 2 clones and then dispel them." Koji Sensei said as Mika walked to the open space as the class backed up and some of the other kids started making remarks at her.

"Everyone get back don't want her clones to blow up and set your clothes and hair on fire like she did to hers last time" Giggles followed "Yea, Mika is really the secret weapon of our enemies. She will blow up the whole village for them and they don't have to do a thing but wait."

"Now class you know that's not nice to say those things. The next person to make a remark is staying after class for detention." Koji said.

Mika grumbled and tried her best to ignore the comments of her classmates. She took stance and made her seals, 3 clones forming. Mika smiles for a moment thinking she did it and went to high five her clones when they exploded on her knocking her back into a tree and once again set her clothes on fire.

"GAHHHHH!" Mika said as she was tossed into the tree and started to roll around trying to put out the fire. The whole class was dying of laughter at the sight before them. Only Koji came to her side.

"Mika, are you ok?" Koji sensei said.

Mika pushed Koji back and turned her head away, trying to hold back tears. She stood up and looked at her classmates, an anger growing inside her as they laughed. She didn't know where the anger was coming from but she was going to make them stop laughing at her. She remembered a scroll she tried to read a few weeks back that was on her daddy's desk. It had wolves on it, Mika loved wolves. As she was trying to get a better look at it, her father returned to the office and yelled at her, saying the scroll was a powerful jutsu and she shouldn't have been looking at the scroll. Mika remembered the hand seals and started gathering chakra.

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME!" Mika screamed at her classmates as the markings from "that" day started to faintly appear as she started to form the seals.

Koji sensei had looked up when Mika yelled and was shocked by the amount of chakra she was gathering that he didn't see the seals Mika was forming until she had finished and his eyes widened.

"MIKA! NO! DONT!" Koji yelled as he tried to stop Mika.

The class was still laughing but they all stopped and stared at Mika when the sensei yelled. They all felt it, power, anger, danger, they were scared.

"Tsuin Kageboushi Ookami Jutsu!" Mika said as two shadow wolves were created, one on each side of her.

The two wolves looked at the class and growled at them when Koji sensei grabbed Mika and jumped away leaving behind two exploding tags dispelling the shadow wolves. The class was trying to hide behind each other at the creatures that Mika summoned. Koji sensei set Mika down in front of the class, a very angry look on his face. Mika looked to the ground.

"Class you have the rest of the day off. Mika and I need to go have a talk with her parents." Koji sensei said as the class left the training field as fast as they could glad to be away from Mika. Many of them making comments under their breath. Freak. Monster.

Mika sat at her desk, her mom sitting next to her, Koji sensei at his desk. It was then the door to the classroom opened and Mika's father walked in, but he wasn't alone, the Tsukikage was with him. It was then Mika realized she had done something VERY bad. The markings from before were still on her body. When the Kage saw the markings his eyes went wide and he quietly said "So, it was in the scroll..."

Aisu looked up at the Tsukikage along with Mika and Koji. It was Aisu that broke the confusion.

"What do you mean it was in the scroll Tsukikage-sama?" Aisu said.

The Tsukikage looked at Aisu, then to Mika, and back to Aisu.

"I am sorry I have kept this from you old friend but I couldn't say anything until I was sure." the Tsukikage shook his head. "This conversation must never leave this room."

"On that fateful day 3 years ago when you were attacked in the library we examined the scroll that was left behind and compared it to ancient records from before the villages founding. The library used to be an ancient repository of knowledge from all over the world. It's where all the most important or dangerous information was stored for safekeeping."

"One of the myths surrounding it was of a scroll sent here by The Sage of Six Paths shortly before his death. It was rumored to hold a power so dangerous that he refused to release it onto the world. It was left over from when the sage created the tailed beasts, but he deemed this chakra taking a form to be too dangerous. Nearing his deathbed and afraid of what would happen when he died he set to work writing a prison. A scroll that would hold the creature for all eternity."

"During the reign of the second Tsukikage he learned of this rumor and wanted to find and use its power to destroy our enemies and he had squads search the library for months on end trying to find it. After a time he believed that it had been found and the squads weren't telling him, planning to keep it for their own and he had them all killed. With the town in horror of what their Kage had done he was himself killed."

"When the Third Tsukikage took reign she passed into law that the scroll was just a myth, it was not to be talked about, and searching for it would be grounds for banishment from the village. The Second was working off old pictures of the scroll which ended up in our archives. We compared them to the scroll found that day and there were many similarities. But with the scroll blank we had no way of knowing if it was the mystic scroll, if the beast was still sealed away, or if the beast had been freed long ago." The Tsukikage took pause here and let everything so far sink in.

"After hearing from Koji about the events of today with your daughter. I can only assume that the beast was still in the scroll and now resides in her. This would explain a lot, including her problems with chakra control and the markings now on her body." the Tsukikage said as he sighed and removed his hat.

"I also regret to inform you that with this new found info and the outburst today, that I cannot allow Mika to remain in the village... She is now considered to be a threat to the village and hence banished from the village. She will only be allowed to return after she has learned to control the creature now living inside of her. With our recent visitors from Konoha I have spoken to their Hokage and while wishing they could help they have their hands currently tied worrying about their own jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. They however have an ally in the Sand who is willing to help us. Their Kazekage Gaara, the jinchuriki of the Shukaku has offered to take Mika in, giving her citizenship to Suna, a home at the Kage palace, and help learning to control her powers from Gaara himself." said the Tsukikage as he looked at the pain in the parents eyes.

"I'm sorry things must be this way but I must think of the safety of the village. We are still recovering from the death the king and don't have the resources to take care of a jinchuriki."

Anya pulled Mika into a hug and cried into her, not wanting to let her go. Mika didn't really understand what was going on aside from she was being taken from her parents and banished from the village, she cried back into her mother. Aisu tried to plead with the Tsukikage, there had to be another way, he couldn't just give up his daughter this easily.

Later that night Anya was helping her daughter pack when Aisu came into the room carrying a small bag and a wrapped gift.

"Here is a bag of jutsu scrolls and this is a special gift just for you my lil one." Aisu said. He gave the bag to his wife to pack for Mika while handing his daughter the gift.

Mika looked at the box curiously, why would her father be giving her a present for being banished. She took the box and carefully opened it removing the packaging paper, her eyes going wide. In the box was a brand new set of ninja gear, kunai, shuriken, and assorted tools.

What surprised Mika the most was the contents of a small rectangular box, addressed to her from Koji-sensei.

_Dear Mika, I am sorry for how your schooling has gone and the teasing from the students. I hope you understand that none of this is your fault and that you will make a great ninja one day. I talked to the Tsukikage myself over the events of the day and he agreed with me. We do not want you to think your village is abandoning you and we want to let you know we are proud of you._

_Welcome to the ranks as a genin ninja of Getsugakure._

_ ,Koji-Sensei_

Mika opened the box to find a brand new ninja headband, freshly polished, set on a red cloth, and adorned with the symbol of Getsugakure. Mika removed the headband and clutched it in her hands, tears starting to fall. Her parents hugged her tight and her father went to take her headband from her.

"Here, let me help you put your headband on. I'm so proud of you, my daughter, a ninja of Getsugakure." Aisu said

Mika stopped her father from taking the headband. "No, please just tie it around my arm. I will not wear it properly until I am allowed back into the village."

Anya and Aisu were surprised at their daughters reaction but couldn't really blame her for it. They both wished as hard as they could to have their daughter stay in the village but there was no way to change the Tsukikage's mind.

"Ok angel, let's get this on you then." Aisu said as he took the headband and tied it around his daughters arm.

At that moment a Getsugakure shinobi knocked and entered the room to inform the family that the boat to take Mika to Suna will be leaving soon and that they must get to the docks.

Mika parents held their daughter tight and helped her to finish packing. They escorted her to the dock where the Tsukikage and Koji-sensei were there to say good bye. Koji-sensei gave Mika a hug and ruffled her hair. The Tsukikage went to shake her hand but she walked right by him instead, not too much surprise.

"You will be taken to a port on the southern border of the Land of the Wind. Two Suna jonin will be there to escort you to the village where you will meet the Kazekage and start your training. We hope to see you back here in the future Mika." said the Tsukikage, ignoring Mika ignoring his hand shake.

Mika just nodded that she heard. Everyone said their goodbyes and watched as the ship set sail to take Mika to the Land of the Wind.


	2. Start of an Adventure

Chapter 2 – Start of an Adventure

It was late at night and Mika was lying on the deck of the ship staring at the clear sky, mostly at the moon. Two jonin were on watch, their eyes trained on the open water before them. Who knew what hidden dangers lay in wait on the water. Mika had always adored the beauty and mystery that was the moon, but tonight for some reason she felt drawn to it more than normal. The moon was a beautiful full moon plastered against the clear starry sky. Mika stared entranced at the moon as the ship swayed with the waves as the world around her seemed to melt away.

Mika looked around as she suddenly found herself on the lunar surface. Her first instinct was to hold her breath as she frantically tried to figure out what happened and what to do. Her lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen as her body betrayed her and she took in a deep breath. To Mika's surprise there was breathable air and as the surprise wore off, her curiosity kicked in. How did she get to the moon, how could she breathe, why was she here, and most importantly how to get back.

She walked around the lunar surface not knowing where she was going or what she was hoping to find but something was calling to her. She kept walking randomly around until out of the corner of her eyes something caught her attention. Mika saw what looked like slits in the surface of the moon; was it a chasm? As she got up close she noticed it was bars to a cage. An intricate seal was carved into each bar and they spiraled to the center where a large keyhole appeared to be. Mika leaned in close and looked through the bars into the darkness behind them, she thought she saw something move but wasn't sure.

Mika snapped back to reality as she was picked up. She was disoriented at first but soon her senses started coming back to her. One of the jonin was holding her and rushing her below deck. The sounds of panic and battle came from the deck, something exploded of to the side of the ship.

"Mika-san please stay below deck, it's for your safety." The jonin said.

"Kiru-sensei what happened? What is going on?" Mika asked.

"We were attacked from out of nowhere by bandits. We don't know if they are after you or after the cargo. Please stay here and don't leave your room. One of us will get you when it is safe." Kiru said as he rushed out of the room, locking the door behind him.

On deck a group of ninja from the village hidden in the rain were trying to overwhelm the ships small crew. The sounds of kunai clashing filled the night air as the crew tried to repel the ambush. It seemed like more just kept coming from the small black ship now attached to the side.

"What the hell is going on, we knock one overboard five more come on board….unless… Tsuri find out what is going on..NOW!" Kiru said to his fellow ninja.

Tsuri nodded and removed herself from the battle as she jumped up onto the mast of the ship. She slipped on a pair of goggles from the top of her head as she formed seals with her free hand. The goggles began to glow as Tsuri watched the battle. Through the goggles she saw Kiru and her fellow jonins' chakra networks pulsing with energy. Her eyes went wide as she looked at the enemy, they had no chakra network! But they couldn't be clones, her team was exchanging blows with them. How was this….. Tsuri's eyes went wide as she saw a chakra network appear in one of the clones as it attacked Kiru. THAT'S IT!

"Kiru! There clones, every single one. The real ninja are hiding and jumping from clone to clone to attack us and fool us into thinking were fighting a bigger force then we are." Tsuri said.

Kiru smirked. These ninja may be smart but Tsuri was always two steps ahead. He grabbed a second kunai from his pouch and started charging through the clones as Tsuri watched carefully. She watched as Kiru fought their attackers, studying their every move. GOTCHA! Tsuri jumped down into the fight just as she saw a chakra network appearing in one of the clones. She pulled a tag from a pouch on her vest and slapped it onto the would be attacker.

"SEAL!" Tsuri said as the tag glowed and the attacker tried to teleport away only to find out he wasn't able to.

Kiru moved in one fluid motion and stabbed his kunai right through the tag and into the ninja.

"How….how did you know..?" the ninja said as he coughed blood onto the deck.

Tsuri smiled and replied tapping her goggles. "I can see your chakra network. After I realized what you were doing it was only a matter of timing to get you with a chakra disruption tag. It messes up your chakra just long enough to take care of you."

He stared at Tsuri for a moment then broke out laughing as his clones dispersed. Tsuri and Kiru gave him odd looks.

"You may have seen through my jutsu but you didn't see that I was just trying to distract you and keep your attention on me." The ninja laughed as blood loss set in and he passed out.

Tsuri and Kiru looked at each other for a moment before they both spoke in unison. "MIKA!"

Mika sat on her bed as she heard the battle going on above her. Mika put a small chest against the door to prevent anyone from coming in unless she moved it. She had a kunai in her hand as she watched the door and waited for someone to try to get in. Her ear twitched as she went to turn around when she felt a kunai at her neck and she froze up.

"You made a bad decision only paying attention to the door and forgetting that there is a window. Now I have you all to myself and I thank you for blocking the door so no one can get in. The bounty I get for capturing you will be great."

The mysterious bounty hunter pressed his kunai into Mika's neck until a small trail of blood slid down the blade. Mika grimaced in pain as a tear rolled down her cheek. She would never see her home or her parents again. Mika felt a deep sadness from the pit of her stomach as she waited for the worst. Mika went limp as she feinted and almost caught her captor off guard.

"Such a stupid girl, she knows nothing of being a ninja. This was too ea…."

He went silent, Mika had regained her composure. But something was off about her presence.

"Welcome back little girl…"

Mika turned and looked up at her captor. He never finished his sentence; he was staring at her eyes. They weren't the eyes of a newly graduated ninja. These were the murderous eyes of a killer, one who had seen death many times.

"What th…."

The sentence wasn't finished as Mika disappeared in a flash and the ninja looked around for the girl. Mika reappeared behind him and landed a kick to the side of his neck and knocked him into the wall. Then she was gone again, this time reappearing in front of her would be captor and slammed a hard punch right into his gut as he fell to his knees. Mika drew her kunai and went to go embed it in her attackers back when she froze. Her body swayed as the kunai fell from her hand as she collapsed onto the floor as Kiru and Tsuri pounded on the door of the room trying to get in.

"To hell with this" Kiru said as he formed a quick succession of seals and blasted his hand through the door and knocked it right off of its hinges.

Tsuri saw Mika on the floor and went to her side putting a hand on her neck, breathing a sigh of relief when she felt a strong pulse.

"She's still alive, unconscious but still alive." Tsuri said as she looked to the unconscious attacker. "The real question is; what happened to him?"

Kiru looked over the ninja and was surprised at how little damage there was to him and how powerful this punch seemed to be. Kiru looked to Mika in awe. How did you do this much damage….You truly a unique individual Mika. Kiru gently picked Mika up and set her on the bed as two more ninja came into the room.

"Take this scum down to the hold and tie him up and anyone else left too. On your way get the medic. I want her to take a look at Mika." Kiru said as the Tsuri helped the other two ninja get the body out of the room.

The medic came into the room and went to Mika's bedside. She took out some tools and checked Mika's vitals. Upon finding everything normal she left the room.

"She is fine. Just let her rest and she should wake up on her own."

Everyone left the room and Mika was left to rest. Mika slowly woke up, her movements were slow and labored. Her chakra felt drained, it felt like she had just been put through 48 hour training session back at school. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before they shot open, she was back on the moon.

Once again she stood before the cage, her eyes staring into the darkness beyond the bars. A low growling came from inside the darkness. Mika brought herself to the bars and jumped back screaming as something came at her out of the darkness.

"YOU FOOLISH, WORTHLESS, WEAK LITTLE GIRL! YOU ALMOST GOT ME CAPTURED! YOU GET ATTACKED AND YOU PASS OUT ON ME! I WAS BETTER OFF SITTING IN THAT DAM PRISON SCROLL THEN STUCK IN YOUR BODY!"

Mika stared at the clawed paw that was lashing out from behind the bars trying to find her. It was a black wolf paw with blood red flames going up the arm. Mika was scared, there was an overwhelming feeling of anger flowing out from behind the bars.

"IF I EVER GET AHOLD OF YOU I WILL RIP YOU APART!" The creature said as he pulled his paw back between the bars and went silent.

Mika carefully inched her way back towards the bars trying to get a look at the creature when both paws shot out again and grabbed her. Their touch sent waves of pain through her as she felt a very menacing chakra flowing into her body. So much power. So much anger and hatred. It felt like she was burning from the inside out. The last thing Mika saw before she passed out was ice blue eyes and a fanged smile.

Mika bolted upright in bed screaming and thrashing about in the covers. Kiru and Tsuri rushed into the room, kunai drawn. Tsuri sheathes her kunai and goes over to Mika's side putting an arm around the thrashing girl and tries to calm her down.

"Mika, Mika, Its ok your fine, just a bad dream." Tsuri said as she pulled the thrashing girl into a tight embrace and stroked her hair. She motioned for Kiru to leave the room.

Mika kept thrashing until she was pulled into Tsuri's arms and she buried her head into Tsuri and started to cry into her chest. Tsuri just kept rubbing th poor girls back until she calmed down. She moved Mika away from her a bit and brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Are you ok little one? It was just a bad dream, that's all, it can't hurt you." said Tsuri as she used a cloth to wipe away Mika's tears.

Mika sniffled a bit and tried to calm herself down. She looked herself over to make sure everything was ok. Finally, She looked up at Tsuri and gave her a tight hug.

"Thanks Tsuri-sensei" Mika said "How long have I been asleep?"

"A good 2 days almost, you gave us all quite a scare. We should be close to the Land of the Wind soon. I will let you get dressed, then you can come up on deck. It's just about time for lunch, were having ramen"

Mika smiled at the mention of ramen and quickly gathered up fresh clothes and got dressed. She stumbled up onto the deck still trying to get her shoes on when Kiru caught her. He smiled at the young girl as he helped her balance.

"You gave us quite a scare little one, now come get a seat and have some food." Kiru said as he motioned to an empty seat by a makeshift table.

Mika sat in the chair and smiled hungrily at the food placed before her. By the time she was done she had 3 bowls of ramen and 8 rice balls. She set her dishes down and laid back in her chair looking out across the ocean and saw land growing in the distance.

"There is our destination, the port city of Sunahama." a crew member said as the rest of the crew started getting the ship ready to make port. "We should make the port within the hour as long as the wind favors us."

Mika went back under deck and went to start packing up her stuff. The ship soon made port in Sunahama and docked. Mika brought her stuff up onto the deck with Kiru and Tsuri following behind her. She made her way off of the ship where there were six jonin waiting for them. The two at the front seemed to be the leaders of the squad, one was wearing a black outfit with a wrapped bundle on his back and the other wore a black dress with a red belt around her waist and a fan strapped to her back.

"Here is where our journey ends. We are intrusting Mika to you. If anything happens to her it will be Suna's responsibility." Kiru said as Mika was semi-hiding behind Tsuri.

Tsuri got down on one knee in front of Mika and smiled. "You will be just fine Mika. Think of it as a very long summer vacation. You will be back in Getsugakure before you know it and hanging out with all of us again."

Mika smiled and gave Tsuri a hug before walking over to the Suna ninja. The one in the black robes mostly ignored her and went to talk to Kiru. The girl in the black dress scoffed at her brothers actions and smiled at Mika.

"Don't worry little one. We will get you to Suna safe and sound. The big idiot who didn't say anything is my younger brother Kankuro and my name is Temari." Temari smiled warmly as Mika smiled back at her.

"We will leave for Suna within the hour. Everyone, get any supplies you need and get ready to depart." the ninja now known as Kankuro said to the group.

"Be a good girl Mika, make your family and Getsugakure proud." Kiru and Tsuri both gave Mika their goodbyes and went off into town to get supplies for the trip back.

"Bye Kiru-sensei, bye Tsuri-sensei. I'll miss you" Mika said as she followed Temari into town.


	3. Across the Burning Sands

Chapter 3 – Across the Burning Sands.

Mika absent mindedly look around the store as Temari and the other sand ninjas gathered food, water, and other supplies for the trip back to Suna. As she browsed the shelves her excitement almost got the best of her when she saw the store sold Ramune. She grabbed three bottles and headed up to the register only to realize that she didn't have any money; she had left it all at home. She hung her head low and went to go take the drinks back when a hand came from behind her and set two more bottles and some money down on the register.

"It's ok sweetie, I got this for ya." Temari said as Mika smiled.

"Thankies Temari-sama"

Temari smiled back and paid for the rest of supplies one of the ninja had brought up to the counter. After it was paid for, they all went to a small café next to the store to eat before the trip and to pack. Mika having already eaten before she got off the ship only had some rice balls and mochi.

As they were eating Kankuro came over to the group and told them it was time to go.

"You don't need to be so stuck up Kankuro we're getting ready to go don't bite our heads off. Leaving a little late won't hurt." Temari said as she got ready to leave. "You ready to go Mika?"

"We're exposed out here, who knows if anyone else is after her. Also what happens if she goes berserk like Gaara used to, we wouldn't stand a chance. The faster we get back home the safer everyone will be." was Kankuro's reply as he started walking.

Mika felt bad enough as it was that the ship was attacked because of her, now she had Kankuro saying in his own words that she's just a monster, she didn't ask for any of this. Mika held back the tears as she got up and followed in step with the Suna ninja.

Mika followed the group through the desert, she had no idea how they knew where they were going, none of them had a map and there weren't landmarks to follow. Mika, being used to her island, was not doing too well in the heat. She had a hat and a face mask to keep the blowing sand out of her eyes and mouth but it wasn't doing much to stop the heat. Slowly the group started to get ahead of Mika as the heat got to her. She reached for a soda only to realize she had drunk them all already. She called out to Temari to ask for water as she waivered slightly, falling to her knees, as Temari rushed to her side.

Mika saw bits and pieces of things but couldn't make a solid picture, drinking water that someone offered her, Temari and Kankuro arguing about something, Temari hitting Kankuro across the head, and then someone picking her up. Mika's body was just on automatic as it went through the motions.

The group carried on through the desert, Temari was carrying Mika on her back. As the sun began to set Mika stirred and rubbed her eyes, almost falling off Temari's back from the disorientation, and mumbled something.

Temari chuckled and carefully set Mika down and helped her gain her balance.

"Welcome back Mika, you gave us a scare. If the heat was getting to you all you had to do was let us know." Temari said with a smile.

"I didn't want you to think I was weak and a bad ninja." Mika blushes red in embarrassment feeling bad for scaring Temari.

"It's ok you've never been to the desert before, we should have expected this and made things easier for you." replied Temari. "Come on guys pick up the pace so we can get to the first camp site, we're not far." Temari turned to Mika "Are you ok walking or do you want me to carry you the rest of the way?"

Mika feeling embarrassed enough already decided to walk the rest of the way. She didn't want to bother Temari again.

As the sun began to set, a row of trees rose on the horizon and as they got closer a small oasis came into view. It was nothing big, just a circle of palm trees, some rocks, and a small pond with a water well. The group spread out and went to work setting up camp while Mika took a seat on a rock and messed with the water a bit.

When the sun had finally set a small semi circle of tents surrounded a small fire. Wonderful smells of food came from a pot on top of the fire, even the watch guard was distracted by the smell of food. No one noticed a glint coming from one of the dunes.

Dinner consisted of ramen and some bread. Mika downed two whole bowls before getting up and going over to lay down on a rock and stare at the sky. She always loved watching the night sky, The stars seemed to memorize her.

Mika stood before the cage again and stared at the ice blue eyes of the creature inside the cage. It growled loudly at her, and lashed out again with its paw but stopped just short of her. Its claws were wrapping around her. The creature stared at her.

"You didn't run this time girl. Are you scared stiff? Going to pass out on me again?" the creature let out a chuckle.

Mika said nothing and just stared back at the creature until he retracted his paw. She let out a sigh of relief, she was terrified, her legs were weak. She stuttered as she spoke.

"I...I...I..I'm not afraid of you." Mika said with as much confidence as she could muster. It was a lie.

"I can feel your fear, you are a bad liar. I can make it all end, everything you know would fade to nothing. I wouldn't have to deal with you and you would be free of me. You would be free of all the pain you have felt all your life, your classmates making fun of you, your teachers not believing in you. It can all go away. Just break the seal..." The creature grinned.

"No, that would be taking the easy way out and dad told me that was never the answer, a real ninja never gives in." Mika said. "I know what you are... You were a very bad creature and the Sage of Six Paths sealed you away, I won't set you free."

'YOU INSOLENT HUMAN! I HAVE MORE POWER THEN YOU CAN DREAM OF!" The creature growled, chakra leaking out of the cage.

"But you don't have enough power to break out of your cage. No, you need me, the insolent human to free you." saying that gave Mika a feeling of the upper hand. "Well I'm not going to let you go. And from what I have heard from my dad about the jinchuriki, we will be stuck together till we die and I don't plan on dying for a long time. So get used to me. I'm Mika Kyosei and don't forget it." Mika smiled as she said it, the look of annoyance on the creature was funny.

"So you make think, Mika Kyosei. But I will still live on after your death and it might be sooner than you think. Kokuei the Twilight Wolf will not be beaten by a little girl..." Kokuei said as Mika walked away from the cage.

"COME BACK HERE! HOW DARE YOU WALK AWAY!" Kokuei screamed in rage as Mika left.

Mika chuckled as she walked away from the cage, eventually sitting down on a dune and watching space around her. Her entire composure changed and she breathed a sigh of relief as she clutched her chest, her heart was pounding, whatever possessed her to do that she had no idea but she was glad she was away from the creature, Kokuei it said its name was. Mika stared out at the space around her and thought.

As Mika was lost in her own head Kankuro was out on watch as he stared across the silent expanse of the desert around him. The wind had picked up slightly as the night went on and he was getting bored of guard duty, still thirty minutes until next shift. He was going to start heading back into camp when a familiar voice got his attention.

"Been a long time since the Chunnin Exam, your just as clueless as you were back then. It was so easy to kill your Kage, your father was a weak man, just like your whole pathetic village." the voice said.

Kankuro turned around, his kunai drawn as a figure wearing glasses came out of the shadows into the light of the moon. Kankuro's face snarled as he recognized the figure before him.

"Kabuto...still doing Orochimaru's laundry?" Kankuro chuckled.

Kabuto ignored the comment and kept talking.

"You really don't have any idea what is going on do you? I can't believe even your own brother is keeping secrets from you now. Guess he is more like your father then he knows. This will bring about the end of your village if you let it happen. Suna will become nothing but a footnote in history. But I can prevent all that, give the girl to me and your troubles will be gone before they even start..."

Kankuro was caught off guard, what did Kabuto mean... Gaara wouldn't keep any secrets from him or Temari would he? He thought of Mika. How could she cause the end of Suna? She was a new genin from Getsugakure being sent to Suna for protection.

"I don't know what your babbling about but you and your psychotic boss won't get Mika." Kankuro replied.

Kankuro had been gone for a bit, Temari was getting worried about him. "Probably reading a hentai novel, trying to make sure no one knows" Temari said to herself as she chucked and went to go look for her brother.

Kabuto just chuckled at Kankuro's cluelessness, he was about to say something more when he heard someone coming, his time was up.

"You think about what I said, maybe after bad things happen you will change your mind and beg me to take her off your hands.." Kabuto said as he disappeared.

Temari found her brother alone staring at empty space, he looked as confused as ever. She smirked.

"Forget how to get back to camp little bro?" Temari said as she put a hand on his shoulder, her smile left as she saw her brothers face. "What happened?"

Kankuro headed back to camp with his sister and told her all about what Kabuto said and told her to keep her guard up while she was on watch. The sooner they got Mika to Suna, the safer she would be.

The sun was just creeping up over the horizon the next day when Mika was woken up by Temari. The others were already packing up the camp and getting ready to leave. Mika started getting her things together and got ready to get back on way to Suna.

The group walked in silence for the remainder of the trip. Kankuro had sent a bird ahead to let the village know what had happened and gave the time they should be arriving in Suna. Temari stuck close to Mika, watching the dunes around them. Who knew if Kabuto would be back and try to take Mika. Mika was watching how the sand swirled around the dunes creating mini tornados all around her. It was neat, it reminded her of when she was little and would try to chase the leaves in fall as they swirled around in the wind.

Mika sighed lightly as thinking of the past made her miss her mom and dad. It was probably just the beginning of apple season. Her and her mom would always go and pick as much as they could carry home. Her mom made the best apple cider in the whole village, Mika loved helping her mom prepare the apples. She couldn't help herself from sneaking tastes while the cider was cooking and mom wasn't looking. She always got caught, somehow her mom always knew what she was doing. Mika would try to act as innocent as possible and her mom would tell her what would dad think if he caught you sneaking some of the cider before it was ready. It always put a smile on Mika's face, cause she knew daddy did it too. Mom never caught him, but Mika did. They kept it their little secret as they both snuck a taste of the fresh cider. A small tear ran down Mika's cheek but dried before it could drip.

Temari saw Mika cry and gave her a hug, guessing at the problem. "Hey don't worry, I know you miss home but I promise you will have fun in Suna. The market always has neat things for sale I bet you have never seen before. We also have some of the best glass workers in the world. I have this really cool glass ferret in four different colors, it's really neat. Also there is Lein, she is the best glass worker in the village, she is the only one able to make the rare Desert Rose.." Temari said with a hint of mystery in her voice trying to catch Mika's attention, it worked.

Mika's eyes lit up. "What is a Desert Rose?"

Temari smiled. " They are one of a kind roses made from special sand found in certain parts of the desert. No one knows what exactly is special about the sand or why it isn't found everywhere She doesn't make them often as the sand is hard to come by and they are expensive to make. Each one is unique and very special. There is a legend that if a guy gives a girl a Desert Rose as the sunsets on the desert, if she is his true love the rose will glow with all the colors of the desert."

"Wow that sound so beautiful, has anyone ever given you a rose Temari-san?" Mika said with a smile.

The question caught Temari off guard as she blushed deep red. "Well...uh...I uh...Oh look there is Suna" Temari said as she pointed, glad to have an excuse to change the topic.

Mika forgot about the question as she saw the walls of Suna rising in the distance as they got closer. The walls were made of tiers and there were numerous guards on each level. Mika wondered how they were going to get into the village when she saw a small break in the wall that grew into a huge passageway.

The guards at the entrance way greeted Kankuro and Temari as they headed into the village. The group walked along the passage way and Mika gasped when she saw the village, it was huge. It was so much different than Getsugakure. Mika wanted to go look around but Temari said they needed to go to the Kage compound first. She needed to meet Gaara and Temari mentioned that Mika might want up clean up before she did anything. She was pretty dirty after all that time in the desert. Mika blushed and agreed as Temari led the way.


	4. An Interesting Meeting

**Chapter 4 - An Interesting Meeting**

Mika followed Temari through the halls of the kage compound until they got to a door with two guards standing outside. They bowed to Temari when she went by them and into the room.

"This will be your room while you are here Mika, I hope it is to your liking" Temari said.

Mika blushed at being bowed to and hurried into the room. Her mouth fell open when she saw where she would be staying. On one side of the room was a huge bed, covered in pillows, and looked as if it should belong to a daimyo and not for her. Next to the bed was a small nightstand with a lamp and a simple clock. A fully stocked bookshelf was on the far wall sitting next to a desk upon which sat a large sealed box with the seal of Getsugakure and her family's crest; it was the scrolls her father had sent ahead to Suna for her. Mika dropped her bag on the floor next to the nightstand and then hugged Temari.

"It's a great room Temari-sama. Thank you so much for being this nice to me." Mika said.

"Thanks Mika, but you should thank Gaara more; he wanted to make sure you felt welcome here in Suna." Temari said as she hugged back "Speaking of Gaara, we should get cleaned up before we go see him. The bathroom is through that door there and you can hang your stuff up in the closet over there. I am going to go to my room to clean up myself and then I will come get you."

Temari left the room and let Mika get ready. Mika went to her bag and got out a fresh pair of clothes. She froze for a moment after grabbing a shirt when she saw that her mother had snuck in her plushie. His name was Shibby and he was a stuffed fennec fox dressed in a ninja uniform, he even had a mini Getsugakure headband. Mika held back tears as she thought of home and put Shibby on the bed and then went to take her shower. The water was nice and refreshing after the long trek in the desert and Mika felt like she was washing a whole desert out of her hair. Mika got out of the shower and was amazed at how slow she actually dried off for being in the desert. When she finally got dry she got dressed and started unpacking her stuff until Temari got back.

Temari was on her way back to get Mika when she heard her brothers yelling and went to see what was going on.

"WHAT HAVENT YOU TOLD US? NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE KEEPING SECRETS, ESEPCIALLY FROM YOUR OWN SIBLINGS!" Kankuro yelled at Gaara.

Gaara took everything Kankuro yelled at him in his usual quiet demeanor and waited for his older brother to stop yelling before he would answer him. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed his sister outside the door, about to intervene, and just shook his head. Gaara knew Kankuro had a right to be mad and it was best to just let him vent.

"So what do you have to say Gaara?" Kankuro said as he ended his rant.

"When Mika was a young child, an Akatsuki member came to her village looking for a very powerful scroll from the Sage of Six Paths. Inside this scroll was a biju that even the sage thought was too dangerous to give form to. Instead he sealed it into a prison scroll and sent it to the Getsugakure library. Mika's father tried to stop him and Mika came into possession of the scroll. When he tried to take the scroll from Mika it opened and the biju got sealed inside her. Unfortunately all evidence of the resealing was hidden and it wasn't until an incident at her school that it was finally confirmed. Being a small village that can't take care of a jinchuriki and if the biju went out of control they wouldn't be able to stop it. This was shortly after a Konoha mission to The Land of the Moon. They have Naruto to worry about so Lady Tsunade asked if we could look out for her. I said yes and sent you guys to get her and escort her here. I didn't give you any more information then was needed and for safety. These are dangerous times and we need to be careful" Gaara finished explaining and looked at a speechless Kankuro and Temari.

Kankuro went over to Gaara and slammed his fist into the desk.

"That doesn't mean you keep secrets from family... I'm going to check with the guards, make sure everything is ok." Kankuro said as he stormed off.

"Wasn't Mika supposed to be with you when you came here Temari?" Gaara said

Temari regained her composure and swore under her breath, she had forgotten about Mika. Temari turned and rushed out the door.

"Crap...sorry, I'll be right back" Temari said running back to Mika's room.

Mika had all of her stuffed put away and wondered what was taking Temari so long. Mika went over to the window and looked out across Suna. It wasn't home but there was something special about it, like maybe she would fit in here. Mika let her mind wander as she watched the village.

"They will never accept you. You will NEVER fit in anywhere. They will always fear you. Let me make them respect you. I will make sure they never both you again." A voice said inside Mika's head.

Mika tilted her head and yelled back. "I thought I said to leave me alone you stupid wolf..."

Temari chose to walk back into the room at this moment and stood confused in the doorway looking at Mika. Mika turned and blushed when she saw Temari.

"Sorry Temari-sama. I was just thinking out loud. You were right, a shower was just the thing I needed" Mika said.

"Sorry I took so long. I got distracted by my brothers yelling at each other" Temari said. "It's time to go meet Gaara"

"Ok, I guess…." Mika said as she fidgeted a bit. She was really nervous about meeting the Kage of another village, let alone one who was taking her in since her own village banished her.

Temari looked at Mika questioningly. "Everything ok Mika? Your mood changed fast. Do you not want to meet Gaara? Or are you still home sick."

Mika blushed a bit as she replied "I guess I'm just kind of worried about meeting him. He is the kage of Suna and the one who will be training me. What if he thinks I am just a bother to him and he doesn't want to help me or just plain hates me…"

"Don't worry Gaara isn't like that. He can be a nice person once you get to know him." Temari said as inside her mind she was praying that her brother wouldn't say or do something stupid when he first met Mika.

Mika smiled a bit and hugged Temari. "Ok Temari-sama. I am ready to go meet him…. Thanks"

Temari and Mika left her room and headed to the kage office. Temari knocked twice before opening the door and having Mika enter and following after her. Gaara was sitting behind his desk doing paperwork and the elders were beside him talking. They all looked up when Mika and Temari entered.

Mika noticed right away that the elders were staring at her. It made her feel very uncomfortable and she could just feel that they didn't want her there. Mika blushed when Gaara finally looked up at her, he didn't look anything like Mika expected him to and he was handsome. Gaara got up from his desk and went over to shake Mika's hand.

"Welcome to Suna Mika, I hope you enjoy your stay." Gaara said as he shook Mika's hand. As soon as they touched it was as if time froze, Gaara's eyes widened as inside him Shukaku was going crazy. He couldn't believe it; he didn't think it possible. Shukaku was scared of this young girl VERY scared.

"No no no no no no no no no. Get her out of here! Get away from her!" Shukaku said as he freaked out. "KILL HER KILL HER NOW!"

As the elders and Temari watched they saw Gaara's sand shield threw Mika across the room and into the wall, making a nice sized hole. Mika was caught off guard by the sudden attack and was knocked unconscious when she hit the wall. Temari stood in shock at what her brother had done and before his sand could react she bashed him on the head with her fan.

"BAKA! What the hell did you do that for! I told her not to be afraid of meeting you and instead you ATTACK HER!" Temari yelled as she went to where Mika had fallen to the floor. "Crap…she's unconscious. Someone go get a medic-nin quick! Go NOW!"

Gaara stood speechless as he rubbed his head where Temari had hit him. What the hell made Shukaku react like that? Gaara had no idea but right now he was worried about just how badly he had hurt this girl.

Once again Mika was inside her mind, she heard laughing coming from all around her. She didn't really know what happened and was a bit out of it. Eventually a familiar set of bars came into view in front of her.

"HA HA HA HA! You went to Shukaku for help? I knew you were pathetic but I didn't think you were this bad. Unless your goal from this was to make me die of laughter you have failed miserably. And now that their own Kage has attacked you, they will kick you out of Suna and you will have nowhere to go. You will be left to die alone. Just like I told you."

Mika was really getting sick of hearing the wolfs ranting as she screamed back at him. "I thought I told you to SHUT UP YOU DUMB WOLF! Yell, yell, yell, bitch, bitch, bitch. This is really getting on my nerves. Just go the hell away and stop bothering me…"

Mika was surprised not to hear a response and looked around only to see everything was black again and she could no longer see the cage. She heard low voices talking but she couldn't understand what they were saying.

Mika tried to move as pain shot through her body. She whimpered lightly and slowly opened her eyes. She winced as the light in the room flooded her eyes and when she finally adjusted, she noticed she was in a hospital room. She looked out a window and noticed it was dark outside. As her focus shifted back to what woke her up to the first place she saw Gaara talking to a doctor and Temari looking as if she was going to hit Gaara again. Her efforts to move and the resulting whimper caught the attention of Temari who noticed that Mika was awake and went to her side.

"Hey kiddo, welcome back to the world of the waking." Temari said as she helped Mika sit up in the bed.

Mika thanked Temari and hid behind her when she noticed Gaara looking at her, Mika was afraid she was going to get attacked again. Temari gave Gaara a scowl and twitched her head giving him a look of _you better say sorry now or I will hurt you again_.

Gaara didn't move from his spot, from shame or fear of Temari, Mika didn't know. Instead his expression softened a bit as he tried to make amends.

"I am sorry for attacking you. The shield of sand has a will of its own and doesn't always listen to me. From just shaking my hand you did something I didn't think was possible. You scared Shukaku. He did not like you and didn't want you near me and so he attacked. As Kage I am ashamed that our first meeting was like that and I hope you can give me another chance." Gaara finished hoping Mika could forgive him.

Mika hesitated for a moment and fought with herself before finally accepting his apology.

"When you are finally out of the hospital we will begin your training. Until then I will make sure you get the best care in Suna." Gaara said as he said one last thing to the doctor and then left.

Mika watched Gaara leave and then turned to Temari. "What time is it? It was afternoon when it happened right?"

Temari hesitated for a moment before replying. "Um….it's 6pm tomorrow sweetie. You have been out for over 24 hours."

Mika was speechless. It felt like it had only been a few hours at most. It was then her body alerted her that she was very hungry. "Can I get something to eat Temari-sama?"

"Sure" Temari said before going off to go grab some food. She brought back some ramen and pocky for desert. Mika ate everything up and started talking with Temari about just what kind of person Gaara was. Temari munched on a stick of pocky and told Mika everything about how Gaara grew up, Shukaku, their mother, their uncle, what their father did and when Suna helped the Sound try and attack Konoha and how it changed Gaara. Mika listened intently as Temari told the story and sucked the chocolate off her pocky.


	5. Meeting of the Biju

**Chapter 5 – Meeting of the Biju**

Mika was walking along the streets of Suna a week later after getting out of the hospital. She hadn't seen Gaara since the day she woke up in the hospital. Every time she tried to see him she was always told he was busy and to try back another day. Mika had spent most of her time with Temari, who was teaching Mika more about ninjutsu and elemental manipulation. Temari had shown her a special paper that could tell what element a ninja was best naturally suited for, Mika's was fire. Temari taught Mika some basic fire release techniques and showed Mika her own wind release techniques. Today however Temari was away on a mission for a few days so Mika had just been exploring Suna.

Mika was browsing a ninja tools shop in the market when a jonin appeared and told her the Kage has requested her presence and she was to follow him now. Mika nodded and followed the jonin as he headed off towards the Kage Compound. Mika was heading towards the main door when the jonin shook his head.

"We are going in to a different part of the building, the entrance is over here.." said the jonin as he went around to the side of the building to a small recess set in the wall. He took a tag from his pouch and placed it on the wall and Mika watched in surprise as the wall melted and revealed a staircase behind it heading beneath the compound.

Mika followed down the spiral staircase for what seemed like forever before it opened up into a small room with a solid looking door with a chakra lock. Two guards were standing on opposite sides of the door and Gaara was standing in front of it. The jonin bowed to Gaara and then left the room, the staircase sealing itself up as he left.

"Sorry for being unavailable for so long Mika, a pressing matter came up and I had to take care of a few things." Gaara said. "Today we will begin your training. Behind me is a special room. It was used when Shukaku was getting transferred between hosts. If Shukaku was ever to overpower and take over the new host and go on a rampage, it could be sealed in this room until a new host could be found. There are all sorts of ninjutsu and barriers surrounding this room."

Gaara turned towards the door and after making a few hand seals slammed his hand into a pressure plate which upon registering Gaara's chakra depressed and unlocked the door. Gaara motioned for Mika to head in and he followed behind her the door closing behind them.

Mika was blinded for a moment when she entered the room, the light was reflecting of something very shiny. When her eyes adjusted to the light Mika's jaw dropped, the room's walls were covered in gold. Mika could see seals carved all over the walls and even the floor had weird markings on it.

"This room uses version of space-time jutsu to be connected to Suna but nowhere near Suna at the same time. It also has been imbued with special chakra allows for jinchuriki to meet with their biju on a close level. Also in regards to the Shukaku, the walls could be turned to gold dust by my father and then mixed with Shukaku's sand to weigh him down and slow his movements to keep him under control." Gaara explained as Mika looked around the room.

Gaara headed to the center of the room where there was a slightly raised platform surrounded by a ring of water. The platform was covered with many different seals, some Mika remembered learning about in school and others she had never seen before. Mika was lead onto the platform by Gaara and took a seat down across from him on the seal.

"So what happens now?" Mika asked curiously

Gaara ignored her, his eyes closed, and instead was forming a few hand seals. _RELEASE!_ Gaara opened his eyes as five statues rose around the platform, each representing one of the five elements of nature; fire, wind, lighting, earth, and water.

"Now, I want you to close your eyes and focus. Feel your chakra flowing through you and then search for the chakra that doesn't belong. Follow it back to its source and you will find the biju." Gaara said as he closed his eyes once again. "I will be there with you, you will not be alone."

Mika nodded and closed her eyes concentrating. She felt her chakra flowing through her and then found the dark energy of Kokuei's chakra. She followed it as it flowed with her own chakra, the stronger the dark chakra became the darker Mika's surroundings became until it was pitch black. Then Mika blinked and there she was back on the moon. She looked around and did not see Gaara anywhere.

"Gaara? Where are you?" No answer… "Gaara? GAARA?" Mika called out for him.

"I'm right over here." Gaara finally replied as Mika saw him walking over from the rim of a crater.

Mika went over to him, a million questions in her head. What is this place? Where is this place? How can this place exist? But she caught herself before she started bombarding him with questions.

"I have been here before, what is this place Gaara?" Mika finally asked.

"This is a visual representation of your mind. This area in particular is where your biju is contained inside of you. Now to find your biju" Gaara said "You said you have been here before, do you know where he is confined?"

Mika nodded. " He is here beneath us trapped by the moon, the cage entrance is over in that direction." Mika turned and walked off towards the cage.

As Gaara followed Mika he could feel a presence getting stronger and he could feel Shukaku becoming restless and starting to panic. _I don't want to be here. We need to leave here now. It's not safe, kill the girl and seal her down in the room! _Gaara was annoyed with Shukaku, _You don't tell me why you throw the girl into a wall when she posed no threat and again you tell me to kill her. Tell me why you are afraid of her and then maybe we will leave._ Shukaku went silent and Gaara kept going until he stood before the cage with Mika. It was massive and the seal guarding it was like nothing Gaara had seen, it reminded him of documents on the Sage of Six Paths he had read.

As soon as Gaara got close to the cage a clawed paw reaches out and tries to grab him, massive amounts of chakra leaking out of the cage. Gaara was shocked at the speed of the attack and it was only Shukaku's arm that had deflected the attack. Mika was surprised that Kokuei went after Gaara and even more surprised when Shukaku appeared out of nowhere and stopped the attack. That was the demon inside Gaara? Mika didn't know to be scared or feel better.

"SHUKAKU! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO STOP ME YOU WEAK EXCUSE FOR A BIJU! WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS CAGE I WILL DESTROY YOU!" Kokuei yelled from behind his cage.

Shukaku's fear was replaced with laughter when he realized Kokuei's predicament.

"You can't get out can you brother? Seal too strong for you? HA!" Shukaku taunted Kokuei as he growled and hissed back at him.

Gaara went over to Mika and guided her away from the cage. Shukaku and Kokuei were still arguing with each other.

"Ok now Mika, this is the hard part. If you ever hope to gain control of your biju you first have to get him to lend you his chakra. Most are unwilling and unless they have to they will not want to share their chakra or they will try to take over your body. Now after seeing his cage, you have one advantage. Unlike most biju who have a seal made by a specialist, your seal was created by the Sage of Six Paths. That means it is stronger than most other seals and thus Kokuei will never be able to get out without help from you in some way. You need to convince him that it will get him closer to his goal of freedom if he helps you. However, if you draw on too much of his chakra, his will can start to come out as well and try to overpower you. If you let that happen the seal will break, he will be free, and you will most likely be killed in the process." Gaara explained.

Mika took all of this in and looked back towards the cage, she didn't know if she had the courage to stand up to Kokuei and make him give her his chakra. Mika slowly nodded.

"Ok Gaara, I will try…." Mika said uncertainly.

She headed back over to the cage where Shukaku was still taunting a silent Kokuei. Gaara had Shukaku stand back a bit, but stay close enough to protect Mika if Kokuei decided to try something.

"..k..k…k….kokuei….Kokuei... KOKUEI!" Mika finally got it out as Kokuei laughed at her.

"What do you want, you pathetic weakling. You annoy me" Kokuei said chuckling.

"If it wasn't for me you would still be inside that stupid scroll or take by that man and who knows what would have happened to you. But now you are stuck with me and as you can't break that seal and get out, I think you should start showing some gratitude for getting you out of that stupid scroll and letting me use your chakra. If you don't then you will be inside me for a long time until you start to collect dust like a forgotten piece of trash. THIS IS MY BODY, NOT YOURS!" Mika said to Kokuei

Kokuei growled at being talked to like that by this puny little girl. But as much as he didn't like to admit it she was right, if she didn't weaken the seal somehow there is no way he would ever get out of here. He thought it over for a moment and growled more at her not wanting to admit she is right. A smirk forms across his face as he looks at her.

"Fine, I will give you use of my chakra, if you think you can handle it…." Kokuei said as the smile remained on his face.

Mika blinked and opened her eyes. She was back in the room and Gaara was still across from her and he was staring at her. He had small upwards curl to his mouth in what could only be assumed as his attempt at a smile. Mika felt a lot of chakra flowing into her, she couldn't believe this power. It reminded her of the day back at the academy.

"You did good Mika, but he gave it up too easy. Try not to draw on too much of his power until you know what is going on with him." Gaara said "Now let's see what you can do with your extra power… I want you to make as many clones as you can."

Mika nodded and stood up gathering chakra and 5 clones formed. Mika smiled at the clones surprised that they didn't blow up on her. Gaara however wasn't impressed.

"No you're still drawing on your own chakra. You have this new power, draw on it too. Mix it with your own chakra and then use your jutsu."

Mika concentrated had this time and even decided to use a stronger technique she had just read in one of the scrolls her father sent ahead. "Taju Kageboushi Ookami Jutsu!" Mika watched as wolf clone after wolf clone started to appear around her and Gaara. Gaara was surprised at how much chakra Mika had to be drawing on. No way her biju could be acting this cooperative. It was then Gaara noticed that the clones weren't stopping. Gaara looked to Mika and saw that her one eye was glazing over and turning from ice blue to a blood red.

"MIKA!" Gaara yelled as he grabbed her with his sand and held her in place. She had drawn too much power and Kokuei was trying to force himself through. He started forming seals with quick succession. "Gogyu Yokusei! (Five Elements Suppression)"

The five statues began to glow as energy beams shot from their hands and struck Mika. She screamed out in pain as they forcibly suppressed Kokuei's chakra back inside Mika. Gaara let go of Mika and she collapsed to her knees panting hard.

"It's ok Mika, that was a good first try, especially with an uncooperative biju." Gaara said as he helped Mika to her feet. "This will be all the training for the day. You need to rest for a bit, come on lets go and meet up with Temari-sama."

Mika nodded and used Gaara for support as they headed out of the room.


	6. Seeds of Love

**Chapter 6 – Seeds of Love**

Gaara and Mika walked together down the lit streets of Suna at sunset, the sky was a brilliant hue of orange as the sun was going below the horizon and its rays were slowly leaving sun. Mika watched as the sun set and smiled at how beautiful it was to watch. Gaara was right beside her, her arm around his shoulder for balance but the sunset seemed to be lost to him. His face was lit up by the sun and Mika couldn't help but blush, he was cute.

"HEYYYYYYYYY OVER HERE" Temari yelled over to the two as she waved her hand trying to get their attention.

Mika smiled and waved back with her free arm as her and Gaara went over to Temari. It looked like she had been waiting for a while as there was a small hint of impatience on her face when she looked at Gaara. Mika noticed and went over to Temari, giving her a big hug.

"Sorry if we kept you waiting Temari-chan. It's my fault, Kokuei wasn't cooperating very well and I got hurt. Gaara was helping me walk on the way over here but it was still slow goings" Said Mika finally releasing Temari from the hug.

"It's ok Mika-chan. Its' just made sure I am hungry." Temari replied while she looked to her brother. "SOOO Nii-chan, did you and Mika have a nice walk over here? And how did everything go with the training?"

Mika blushed at Temari's question. Mika hoped that she hadn't been that obvious staring at Gaara. She hoped that he didn't notice as well, he would probably think she was stupid for having a crush on him. Besides, what would a Kage want with a little girl who was banished from her village for being a danger to it. He could probably have any girl in Suna that he wanted; he would never waste his time on her.

"Everything went well. Mika's biju wasn't being very cooperative with us but Mika was still able to get a bit of his chakra before he started trying to force himself out and I needed to suppress him" replied Gaara as he held open the door to the restaurant for Temari and Mika to go in.

This was one of the nicer restaurants in Suna and Mika felt a bit embarrassed at being treated to such a nice restaurant. Temari and Mika walked in and were greeted by a hostess who looked over at the slightly underdressed Mika with a slightly annoyed look, Mika turned away and looked to the floor.

"Um…Miss, I must unfortunately ask you and your guest to leav…." The hostess said, not recognizing Temari was the one with Mika and stopped in mid sentence as Gaara came in the door behind the two ladies.

"Ah….Kazekage-Sama…" The hostess straightened up his posture and finally noticed who the older female was "OH…Temari-Sama….! I didn't recognize you" He looked to Mika and bowed in apology. "So sorry miss, I didn't know.."

Gaara looked at the hostess and a slight scowl crossed his face as he could only guess at what had happened before he entered behind the girls.

The hostess straightened up and grabbed three menus.. "Follow me please" And lead the group over to a nice semi secluded table in the corner and removed a RESERVED placard before setting down the menus and holding out the chairs for Temari and Mika. "Your server will be with you in a moment" Said the hostess as he scurried off, obviously trying to get away from Gaara, less he find out what he was about to say to his guest.

Mika looked over the menus and gave a slight gasp as she saw the prices. She blushed deep red and being treated this nicely.

"It's ok Mika, order whatever you want. This is mine and Gaara's treat for all we have put you through so far, your progress in training, …" Temari said.

"And as a welcome to the village of Suna.." Gaara interrupted as he pulled a tan box out of his pocket and handed it to Mika.

Mika looked at the box in surprise and then to Gaara who gave a slight nod as she took the box and slowly opened it. Mika gasped in shock when she opened the box to reveal a brand new Suna headband on a beautiful red cloth. It was just like Gaara's, Mika blushed.

"Welcome to Suna Mika." Temari said as she noticed the blush and could guess after earlier why.

Temari grabbed the headband out of the box and went behind Mika, gently securing it to her forehead and smiled.

"There we go, now you are an official citizen and genin of Suna"

Mika blushed again and hid behind her menu from Gaara and Temari who both started looking at their own menus. Mika couldn't believe all the different kinds of food they had, some she had never even heard of. When their server finally came over, Mika ordered a sesame chicken meal with beef rice balls and miso soup to start. She also got an omakase sushi platter. Temari ordered Korean beef with yakiguri and Gaara got salted beef tongue and a sushi platter.

While they were waiting for their food to come Temari decided to be a bit playful and try to play matchmaker.

"Soooo Nii-chan" Temari smirked "Have you asked her out on a date yet?"

Gaara's eyes went wide at his sister's comment and Mika dropped her chopsticks and blushed five shades of red. A part of her was wondering what he was going to say. Gaara remained silent although one could tell that his sister's question caught him off guard and he was trying to carefully select the words for response.

"No I have not Temari-Sama. I was waiting for the proper moment and after the rough training today I was going to wait till Mika was better." Gaara replied as he glared at his sister.

"Proper moment…BAKA!" Temari said as she smacked Gaara on the side of his head.

"You know nothing about girls, Mika has been crushing over you since she got here. And that was after you flung her into the wall! How much longer are you going be obvious that she likes you and just ask the girl out!" continued Temari, getting caught up in the moment forgetting Mika was there.

Mika's face was so red, one would think it was about to explode from all the blushing. Mika quickly excused herself and ran out of the restaurant and into the city as all eyes in the restaurant were on Gaara and Temari at the table.

Gaara was a bit shocked at his sister's outburst and even more surprised when Mika ran out of the restaurant. He saw all the other patrons of the restaurant looking at the table and with a glare, they all looked away as he turned back to Temari.

"Now look what you have done. You have embarrassed the poor girl..Well are you going to go find her or should I?" Gaara said as Temari lowered her head.

"I think maybe you should go find her Nii-chan. I'm going to pay for the meal and go do some training. Please tell Mika that I am sorry." Temari said as she got up and went over to pay for the meal.

Gaara shook his head and walked past Temari and headed out of the restaurant in search of Mika.

Temari left the restaurant shortly after Gaara and started heading back home. She felt so bad she let her emotions get the best of her, but she couldn't just let her brother be oblivious to one of the few girls in this world that likes him. At least hopefully something would happen now that Gaara was the one going to find her; she just wished it was happening under different circumstances.

Mika kept running down the streets until she came to a small, empty playground set into the cliffside. She ran up the stairs and took a seat on the swing set at the back. She started yelling at herself for being so obvious that she liked Gaara, how could she have ever thought he would ask her out. And now Temari went and blurted out her major crush on Gaara, and then Mika had to run off. He probably thinks she is an immature girl.

Gaara was walking the streets of Suna looking for Mika when he heard a voice on the wind. He was sure it was Mika and it sounded like she was fighting with someone. He picked up the pace and stopped at the top of the stairs when he saw where Mika had ran off to and saw her on the swings. He quietly walked over .

"Are you ok Mika-chan? Temari told me to let you know that she is sorry for her outburst." Gaara said as he put a hand on Mika's shoulder.

Mika twitched slightly when Gaara put a hand on her. She wanted to tell him to go away but the reassuring touch it gave made her smile slightly.

"I'm fine and tell Temari-sama that it's ok, I don't blame her. And I'm sorry for running off. I must have embarrassed the both of you." Mika said as she shifted slightly on the swing.

"It is ok Mika. We were the ones who embarrassed you first and we're sorry for letting it happen. Also, have you really had a crush on me since we met? I would have thought you hated me after I threw you in to the wall and I was honestly surprised when you actually came for training. I would have thought you would have told the jonin I sent to get you to piss off." Said Gaara " I was glad you did come."

"It wasn't your fault for what happened. Temari explained it all to me after you left the hospital. I thought you were cute the first day I met you. I don't know why, I just felt drawn to you." Mika blushed more. "You must think I'm some stupid fan girl. Why would you want to date me when you could probably have any girl you want in the village."

Gaara seemed shocked at Mika's response. Sure he could probably have any girl from the village he wanted. Who wouldn't want to be dating the Kazekage, if not for the perks alone. However, short of Matsuri no one really had shown that much interest in him.

"Actually the only girls that want me only want me cause they want the perks of being the Kazekage`s girlfriend. The only person who likes me for me is one of my students." Gaara replied.

Mika finally realized what it must have been like for Gaara when he was younger and now that he is Kazekage he must constantly wonder if people are being genuine or just faking it.

"I'm sorry Gaara-Sama. I can only imagine what it must have been like for you as a child and now you probably second guess everyone, wondering if they are just acting how they are cause your Kazekage." Mika said as shifted slightly fighting with herself, trying to decide if she should do this or not.

Mika got up and went over to Gaara and gave him a hug.

"I like you for you Gaara, Kazekage or not." Mika said as she rested her head on his chest.

Gaara was caught slightly off guard by the hug, and more off guard that his sand didn't react this time. He wrapped his arms around Mika and held her close to him. The wind was blowing gently and Gaara caught a whiff of her hair, it smelled like cherry blossoms.

"Thank you Mika, I like you too. Jinchuriki or not." replied Gaara.

Mika smiled and looked up at Gaara as her eyes caught a glimpse of the sun. She turned her head and saw the sun setting over the walls of Suna. It was beautiful. Mika blushed. She was in Gaara's arms, watching the sunset with him. She looked back and saw his face lit up by the last rays of light from the sun. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and followed her heart. She kissed him.

Gaara's eyes went wide by the shock of his first kiss but he soon kissed her back and held her closer to his body. The sun set as the two of them kissed and the stars soon came out one by one. The night was perfect.


	7. PushedPasttheLimit, KekkeiGenkaiAwakens

**Chapter 7 – Pushed Past the Limit, Kekkei Genkai Awakens**

**AN: This chapter takes place after a short time skip, linking the story to the beginning of Shippuden with Deidara and Sasori's attack against Suna and Gaara. Also I promise after these next two chapters there will be at least one whole chapter dedicated to just Gaara and Mika, expanding on their relationship.**

"Sandstorm Jutsu, Third Star!"

Mika jumped out of the way from the main blast of Temari's attack, sand scratching at her skin, as she started forming seals.

"Bad move Temari-senpai, Dust Cloud Ignition!"

Mika breathed fire out of her mouth as Temari's wind fueled the technique and the sand particles melted into razor sharp glass shards and turned back onto Temari.

"DAMN IT!" Temari yelled as she had to move fast to avoid all of the glass shards, Mika was getting better with her nature manipulation jutsu.

` "Close but not close enough." Temari yelled as she bit her thumb, smearing blood onto her fan. "Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance."

Mika's eyes went wide at seeing Temari's summoning for the first time; she didn't know Temari was going to be this serious with her. Unfortunately her hesitation cost her precious seconds and she only had a moment to block before the full force of the technique hit. It took all the strength she could get to grab a kunai and try to block all of Kamatari`s attacks. Mika fell slightly as the attack finally ended; her body was covered in cuts and bleeding from most of them. She coughed up some blood as Temari saw what had happened and started to run to Mika's side.

"NO, I'm ok…." Mika yelled at Temari as she stopped and stared in confusion at Mika.

Mika was staring at Temari trying to catch her breath and recover from the attack. What had captured Temari's attention were Mika's eyes. They seemed to be flickering between two different sets of eyes. It was almost like with that Uchiha kid from Konoha, did Mika have a dojutsu….

"Fire Style: Art of the Dragon's Breath, Phoenix Technique!"

Mika noticed Temari's attention elsewhere for a moment and was hoping to use this attack to get back on her feet and then get in a second attack. The fireballs swirled around Temari as she extinguished the flames by sucking the oxygen out of the air with a fan attack and then quickly shut her fan to block the shuriken hidden inside the flames.

"Enough for today Mika. You need to recover from my attack." Temari yelled to the training field as she had lost sight of Mika.

"No, an enemy won't give me the chance to recover; I need to keep training. I have to get better." Mika replied with as she jumped down in front of Temari, her legs shaking, blood loss was starting to set in.

Temari quickly grabbed Mika as she started to collapse. Temari picked her up and started running to the hospital.

Mika woke up staring at stars, at first she thought she had passed out at the training field, it was only when she stood up that she recognized a familiar cage in the rock in front of her.

"It has been a while since I have seen you. Don't tell me, you want me to give you more of my chakra because you are too weak, am I right?" Kokuei grumbled at Mika from inside his cage.

He didn't like the fact that he was still stuck in this girl and hated it even more that he had to share his chakra with her. It was all because of that infernal seal and that god dam Sage of Six Paths. But the day would come where Mika would drop her defenses and he would take over.

"Shut up you stupid biju, you're annoying." Mika snapped back at Kokuei

Kokuei growled and lashed out at Mika trying to drag her into the cage. Mika easily dodged the attack and laughed at Kokuei.

"I don't need you and I'm doing fine on my own." Mika said smiling as everything began to shake.

Mika looked around, everything was shaking like there was an earthquake. But how could there be one here in her mind... The world around her slowly began to fall apart and Mika found herself falling into a pit as the world around her began to fade away.

Mika bolted upright in a hospital bed, Temari at her side wondering what was going on until Mika had bolted awake and another shockwave shook the room.

"What is going on Temari-sama?" Mika asked.

"I'm not too sure" Temari replied as a sand jonin rushed into the room.

"Temari-senpai! The village is under attack, Kazekage-sama is fighting with the attacker above the village."

"WHAT! Come on lets go!" Temari said as she grabs her fan and heads outside

"Temari wait, I be ready in a moment." Mika said as she was going out the door.

"No Mika, your still recovering from our battle, you need to rest. Don't worry about it things will be fine." replied Temari as she left.

Mika pulled herself up in bed and winced at the pain. She kept trying to hear what the nurses and doctors were saying about the battle going on outside. After a while Mika felt the hospital shake as if a bomb went off as she limped over to the window. Mika's eyes went wide as she saw a giant floating island of sand above the village; Gaara must have shielded the village from an attack. She saw the sand slowly start to move away from the village and fall apart outside of the city limits. What had happened to Gaara…? Mika heard yelling from the hall and went over to her door to try and figure out what had happened.

"Rei-sensei! We have casualties coming in. The Kazekage has been captured and when attempting to follow after the kidnappers the village entrance was trapped and blown up." Mika heard a voice saying.

Gaara, captured? She had to do something. Mika went over to the closet and took out her clothes and got dressed grabbing her weapons. Mika went over to the window and carefully opened it. She looked back towards the door, making sure no one was going to come in, and whispered a quiet sorry to Temari for not staying at the hospital.

Mika headed towards the village entrance and saw the maintenance teams already in the process of trying to diffuse the remaining traps and clear away the rubble. She was trying to find a way past the blockage and the traps when one of the jonin saw her.

"Mika-kun You can't get through here. We have no idea how many more traps they are. Also they were able to beat Kazekage-sama, it is too dangerous for you to go after them. Kankuro is already following them, leave this to the jonin."

"I'm sorry Hayato-sempai but I can't do that. I can't just sit around and do nothing" Mika said as she jumped onto the wall and started after Kankuro, Gaara, and the kidnappers.

Mika kept going until she came upon Kankuro facing off with a short, big cloaked figure. Something about the person seemed familiar but she couldn't seem to place it. Mika stopped next to Kankuro.

"Mika-kun! What are you doing here! You were supposed to be in the hospital recovering." Kankuro said, surprised to see Mika there.

"I couldn't just sit around and do nothing, I have to try to save Gaara." Mika replied.

"Gaara is with the other one. They have about a five minute head start from us. I can't stop you from going, so get a move on. This one is mine!" Kankuro said as Mika headed off.

"I don't think so. Neither of you will be going anywhere" Sasori said as his tail whipped out and went after Mika only to be blocked by Karasu.

Mika kept going deeper and deeper into the desert following the tracks left by Deidara. Mika finally sees Deidara in the distance with his bird following next to him, Gaara wrapped up in its tail.

"Tsuin Kageboushi Ookami Jutsu!" Mika said as the two wolves started bolting after Deidara.

Deidara dodged the two wolves and threw out a handful of his clay birds which went after the wolves blowing them up as the rest went after Mika. She tried to dodge the birds with no luck and threw two exploding tags past them. The birds exploded and tossed a sand screen up into the air as Mika tried to use it to her advantage and went right after Deidara. She grabbed a kunai and plunged it right into Deidara's chest. Mika's eyes went wide as Deidara smiled as his body grayed and she realized it was a clay clone.

"SHIT!" Mika swore as she tried to jump away as the clone exploded in front of Mika and shot her backwards into a sand dune and knocked the wind out of her.

Mika took a moment to stand up as her old cuts reopened and new ones appeared. Her skin was deep red from being scratched by the sand. She coughed up some blood onto the sand as her legs shook and she tried to keep her balance. She saw Deidara watching her, a smile on his face. She hated that look, he hurt Gaara, and she was going to make him pay.

"You thought you had a chance of stopping me? You're just a genin, how stupid of you to think you were anywhere close to my level. You are nothing and now you're going to die, you will see the beauty of my ….art…" Deidara said as he looked at Mika as a confused look came across his face.

Mika's eyes were flickering; it almost looked like she was wearing contacts. Her eyes were shifting between her ice blue and a dark blue, with a white crescent moon in the lower corner and a start opposite it. After a moment it seemed to stop as Mika looked at Deidara, nothing but hatred for him and what he did to Gaara. She closed her eyes for a moment and when they opened back up the second eye was back and Mika smirked at Deidara as she started gathering chakra.

"Wh…wh..What is that?" Deidara said, slightly worried. What abilities could this dojutsu possess?

Deidara prepared himself for anything, getting ready to switch to his left eye incase this girl tried to cast a genjutsu. Mika started forming hand seals, getting ready to attack.

"WIND RELEASE: HURRICANE!" Mika said creating a whirlwind heading straight for Deidara

"LIGHTNING RELEASE: DRAGON TORNADO!"

Deidara looked in shock at Mika, she was just a genin! How could she wield two natures with such ease?

Mika smirked. "I'm not done yet!"

"FIRE RELEASE: GREAT DRAGON FIRE!"

THREE ELEMENTS! No genin should have this kind of power. Deidara was in shock as he watched the Hurricane fuel the fire dragon as the air currents created a thunderstorm and charged up the lightning dragon. The two dragons spiraled around each other and headed after Deidara. He only had a moment to react if he didn't want to get killed by this attack.

He jumped on his bird and rose up into the air to try and outrun the attack. But the storm created by the fire dragon was making flying difficult as he had to navigate the lightning strikes coming from it. He threw his hands into his clay pouch as he went about making a new clay bomb. He finally finished it as he was dodging the dragons. He waited until the dragon had to turn to come after him and he tossed a small orb behind him that the dragon soon ate.

Deidara smiled as he ignited the bomb and watched as it imploded on itself and sucked in all of the technique and he laughed in success.

"I will admit you caught me off guard with that attack but nothing can compare to my art! You can't stop me. No one can." Said Deidara.

Mika was breathing hard after using so much chakra with that attack, she wasn't going to last much longer.

"I won't let you take him..."

"I already told you, you can't defeat my art.." Deidara laughed at Mika's statement.

Mika tried her best to keep her balance, this battle was pushing her to her limits and her chakra reserves were running low. She only had enough for one more attack. She had to make it count. There was no way she was going to let his person take Gaara away. She formed seals as her right arm started to change and transform into wood stakes.

"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique"

"That's not pos..." Deidara was stopped mid sentence as he had to dodge Mika's attack, more surprised at the fact it was wood release than anything else, only the first Hokage was supposed to be able to use it. He barely avoided the attack, his cloak getting ripped by one of the stakes as they embedded into the ground.

"You missed and now it's time to end this." replied Deidara as he started making a C1 bomb.

Mika smirked as she watched Deidara making a new bomb. Her eyes flickered slightly as she started forming seals with her free hand.

"My thoughts exactly. Ya know I tried to do this earlier, but with some elemental kekkei genkai it always helps to see it done in person before I can do it myself. But I finally think I've seen you do it enough by now. And you're always saying nothing can beat your art..." Mika said as the stakes started to glow.

"Explo..." was all Mika was able to say before she was hit from behind and fell on the ground as she slowly passed out.

"Didn't think a child would give you this much trouble Deidara. We need to get going." Sasori said as he came out from behind the trees, Hiruko's tail receding back under the cloak.

Deidara glared at Sasori as his partner came over to him. He ignored him and started heading over to Mika's body.

"I am going to make you pay for trying to duplicate my art" Deidara said as he was about to use a C1 bomb on Mika.

"DEIDARA! Leave her. The poison inside of her right now will finish her off. We are already late for the sealing. I won't have them waiting on us any longer" Sasori growled at Deidara

Deidara reluctantly turned away from Mika and followed behind Sasori as they headed off with Gaara floating behind them, trapped in the birds tail.

A few hours later Mika opened her eyes to darkness, she could hear voices but couldn't make sense out of anything. She tried to move but found she couldn't, her body felt so weak and everything hurt. What had happened, the last thing she remembered what fighting with that one cloaked guy.

The voices started to clear up a bit as Mika strained to hear them. _ ...OH NO! Mika!... _That sounded like Temari... _ ...that mark on her back, she was poisoned... _ Mika felt herself being lifted into the air. _...Sakura-San please you have to help her.._ Mika felt something sharp go into her arm as the world started to come into focus. She was surrounded by a lot of people, Temari-sama was holding her, wait what happened to Gaara!


	8. Death of Gaara, Kokuei's Rampage

**Chapter 8 – Death of Gaara, Kokuei's Rampage**

**AN: Next chapter is going to be a purely romance chapter.**

"GAARA!" Mika said as her eyes opened wide and she bolted up, practically plowing through Sakura and Temari, as she quickly felt dizzy and went to steady herself.

"Gaara! What happened? Did you guys save him? What happened to Kankuro!?" said Mika as her brain was running a mile a minute.

"Woah Mika. Calm down, your recovering from being poisoned. You need to take it easy " Temari said as she went over to Mika and steadied the girl, trying to calm her down.

"Kankuro is back at Suna General Hospital recovering from his battle with Sasori. I treated him myself, he will be fine. You should be recovering too. Sasori's poison is potent, I was surprised you held on this long after being attacked." said Sakura as she tried to answer all of Mika's questions in hopes she will calm down.

A familiar blond haired ninja then stepped forward that Mika knew she had seen before. He was the nine-tails jinchuriki who helped save the king of the land of the moon.

"Don't worry Mika-chan. I will get Gaara back safely. I promise." Naruto said smiling.

"I appreciate it Naruto and my people thank you for the job that you did for our land. But I am going to make them regret ever attacking Suna and Gaara!" Mika replied.

"Hey, you don't need to act strong for us. It's ok if you're worried. We are going to get Gaara back" Naruto went to put a hand on Mika's shoulder.

The touch was almost electric. As soon as Naruto touched her shoulder he felt an overwhelming presence of anger, hate, and power, so much power. He felt it all the way to his core, even Kyuubi picked up on it, where was it coming from? Kyuubi felt the power and was taken back to the day the sage of six paths made him and his siblings. Kyuubi remained silent on the matter but even Naruto could feel that he was on edge. Naruto ripped his hand away as if he was burned, everyone looked at him and Mika weird

"I'm not worried, they are going to pay!" Mika replied looking back at Naruto a glare in her eyes.

"Hey you two! You should not be fighting you should be celebrating each other's youth. Now stop it." replied Guy as him and his team finally rejoined the group after scouting ahead.

"There is a barrier seal up ahead. It will take five people to remove all of the anchor points to break the seal. We will take care of the four edge seals and Kakashi you remove the one at the entrance." Guy said.

"All right let's move on ahead and get Gaara back. Temari-sama go back to Suna and let them know what is going on. We don't know what we might end up dealing with and may need the help. We will watch Mika, she will be fine." Kakashi nodded to Guy as the team went off to find the four tags and Temari headed back to Suna.

The group headed off towards the entrance of the chamber as Kakashi brought up the rear as he watched Mika. He could only guess what had happened when Naruto touched her, but he had a feeling that this mission just got a lot more dangerous with a 2nd jinchuriki that even Tsunade-sama didn't want to deal with in the village. He had the repression seal from Jiraiya, but only one, if both Mika and Naruto went off then there would be a problem.

Mika was at the front of the group, with Naruto close behind wondering what had happened when he touched her. His mind wandered and he found himself in front of the Kyuubi's cage. The nine-tails looked at Naruto from behind the bars and remained silent.

"OY demon fox! What the hell was that eairler? Were you trying to hurt that girl or something?" Naruto yelled at the fox.

"She has a power, greater then you could imagine. Even I respect it, you better hope you're lucky enough not to have to deal with it…" Kyuubi said and then went silent as the world started to fade away.

"HEY, What's the power, HEY!?" Naruto yelled back at the fox before he was taken back as the group reached the cave entrance.

Kakashi went up to the seal tag and listened on his radio for Team-Guy's status.

"Sakura, the moment the barrier is gone I want you to destroy this boulder." Kakashi said as Sakura got into position.

Kakashi waited, holding the seal tag in one hand as he listened to Guy's count down. He nodded and ripped the tag off of the boulder and jumped away as Sakura launched herself towards it, punching the boulder and watching as it crumbles apart. The team heads into the chamber and stopped short at the sight before them.

Gaara was lying on the floor with Sasori standing next to him and Deidara sitting on top of Gaara's body. Naruto's temper flared at Deidara as his fists clenched. Mika stood in shock at the sight before her, unable to move for a moment.

"You son of a bitch! Where the hell do you think you're sitting!?" Naruto screamed at Deidara, his eyes taking on the appearance of the Kyuubi.

"Well that solves that mystery, the one who bursts in and yells first all right, you're the leaf jinchuriki. Itachi was right." Deidara said.

Naruto started screaming at Gaara to wake up and yelling at him for just laying around until Kakashi yelled at him.

"That's enough Naruto, you know…." Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto.

"Your friend is right there, he has been dead for quite some time" Deidara replied with a smirk as he smacked Gaara on the side of his face. "No one will stop us from our goals.."

Mika gasped as it finally clicked in her head as she was taken back to the day her life changed and what the stranger said to her. It was all crystal clear like it was happening again. The stranger, the library, the scroll, and that cloak… How could she have ever forgotten it, it was them, they had attacked her family and her village and now they had done it again but this time they had taken the life of someone she loved. Something snapped in her head as her shock turned to anger and started to grow.

"HE WAS ONE OF YOU!" Mika yelled as her eyes flickered.

A silent Zetsu was watching the battle from the shadows and upon seeing the Getsugakure headband on her arm, left to go tell Tobi of the new development. This battle just turned against Deidara and Sasori in a bad way. Sasori was just watching this girls reaction, something had just put her very much on edge.

"I don't know what you are talking about little girl. But I have no idea who the hell you are screaming about." A very confused Deidara replied.

"He came to my village…he had that mask…AND HE WORE YOUR CLOAK! HE ATTACKED MY FAMILY, MY VILLAGE, AND MY NEW HOME! AND YOU HAVE KILLED THE ONE PERSON I CARED ABOUT AND YOU ARE GOING TO PAY!" Mika screamed at Deidara as her markings started to appear, her eyes changing from ice blue to a swirling blue and black.

Mika stood before the cage again, Kokuei looked at her from behind the bars, she was different this time, she was angry…

"What do yo…." Kokuei growled at the girl before he was cut off.

"SHUT UP, I AM SICK OF YOU GROWLING AT ME EVERYTIME I COME HERE… YOUR IN MY BODY AND I MAKE THE RULES. GIVE..ME..YOUR..POWER!" Mika yelled right back at Kokuei catching him off guard.

Kokuei didn't know what to make of this girl in front of him. It was not the one he first met and not even the one who had demanded power from him before. This girl was darker, anger flowed around her, murder was in her eyes, something had happened. He smirked, he liked this girl, this murderous intent.

"Weaken my seal and I will give you the power you want girl. I will give you the power to destroy" Kokuei chuckled

Mika went over to the lock and put her hand on it, not really knowing what to do. The lock seemed to read her intent and a small hole opened in the center of the lock as Kokuei's power started to rush out.

Back in the cave the whole group had their eyes on Mika, Kakashi was swearing under his breath. A dark blackish/red chakra started to pour out of Mika, it swirled around in the air making gashes into the stone walls of the cave. Mika's body contorted as she fell onto all fours, the chakra taking the shape of a 4 tailed wolf around her. This was going to be bad…

"Deidara, Get out of here with the body. If we fight in here we will be at a disadvantage, she will follow you." Sasori commanded.

Deidara summoned a clay bird, having it swallow Gaara and fly out of the cave. He was taken aback when in the blink of an eye Mika was on him and the bird and had ripped off a chunk of the birds tail feathers. He detonated the clay she had grabbed and shot out of the cave and into the sky. Mika bolted out after him destroying everything in her way.

Naruto watched the scene unfold before him as he finally understood what the Kyuubi had said. Mika was a jinchuriki and she had a very powerful biju inside of her… Naruto looked to Sakura and Kakashi and wondered if this was how people looked at him, volatile, dangerous.

"NARUTO! Snap out of it, we need to go after her. We have to get Gaara and we have to stop her before she does something she will regret." Kakashi told Naruto. "Sakura, you and Chiyo-sama take care of Sasori."

Mika was close on Deidara's heels and closing the gap quickly. Deidara started molding clay spiders to go after Mika and detonate on contact. It did nothing to slow her down as a tailed beast blast came out of the smoke and almost took off the birds wing.

"Nice try girl but not good enough! I still owe you for trying to recreate my art..And you will pay" Deidara said to Mika as he started building a C2 dragon.

Mika growled at Deidara as a tail shot after him and the bird, almost grabbing them before they flew out of reach. Deidara didn't notice the second tail coming around behind and was hit of the back and fell off of his bird. Before hitting the ground Deidara summoned his C2 dragon and flew up into the sky above Mika, the bird carrying Gaara now safely out of Mika's reach. The dragon started to spit out small bombs to hone in on Mika and explode. The multiple blasts threw Mika to the ground and blew up a crater around her. She stared up at Deidara with murderous intent deciding how to go after him next.

"You know, I brought this just in case the sand jinchuriki needed another show of my art, I think using it to finish you, the one who cares about him, would bring great beauty to the execution of my art." Deidara said as he smirked at Mika, his one hand pulling out a C3 bomb like the one he used on Suna.

"The sand jinchuriki couldn't even stop this, you will fall and die just as he did to my art!" said Deidara as he dropped the C3 bomb and watched it expand.

Mika stared up at the falling bomb and braced herself and smirked as her one eye flickered.

"You know nothing of my power! It is more than your art could ever be." Mika growled at Deidara.

Mika opened her mouth and roared creating a vortex that started sucking chakra from the C3 bomb. The bomb hit the ground and flattened out on the land, but no explosion came. Mika had absorbed the explosion release chakra from the bomb. She stood in the center of a small clear circle where the bomb hit as if she had forced any of the falling clay away from her.

"HOW DARE YOU STOP MY ART!" Deidara screamed in rage at Mika only to notice she wasn't there as his eyes went wide.

Mika was above him in the blink of an eye and slammed down on the dragon forcing it out of the sky. As they hit the ground Mika noticed the clay body of Deidara and realized he has replaced himself as the dragon exploded around her. As the smoke cleared, the demon cloak was slowly evaporating around her, Mika had reached her limit that the seal would allow. Her body was burned all over and everything hurt. She stared up into the sky and saw Deidara flying once again on his bird. She failed Gaara again, she couldn't save him. No. She wasn't going to let that happen while she still could move. Mika's eyes flickered as she reactivated her kekkei genkai and started gathering the last of her chakra. Her father said in the scroll that this jutsu should only be used as a last resort and that its power would destroy everything in its path if she let it get out of control. It was her clan's kekkei tota when perfected. She was not going to fail Gaara again, if she can't save him then she is better off dead.

Deidara watched the girl from the sky, he hadn't been pushed this far in a long time and he loved it. This girl was intriguing to battle, he wanted to see what she could do after the big display she just put on. He closed his right eye and focused his scope on the girl only to gasp at what he saw.

Mika had her two hands in front of her, facing each other, and was forming chakra between them. What had scared Deidara was it wasn't just chakra. Mika was infusing the elements into this attack. It shouldn't be possible for anyone let alone a genin to use all five chakra natures. The elements clashed violently against each other until they formed perfect rings and swirled around a central core.

"You are going to give Gaara back to me even if it kills me" Mika said to Deidara as she disappeared.

Deidara flinched as Mika appeared in front of him the attack aimed right at his face. He thought this was the end until the technique dispersed before his eyes and he saw Mika's fist coming right at him. The punch connected to his face and forced him and the bird into the ground below. Both Deidara and Mika were tossed off, Deidara getting thrown back into a tree and Mika falling to the ground grasping the severed head of the bird.

Deidara was about to attack Mika when Kakashi and Naruto finally caught up to them. He knew he couldn't take them both on in this state and disappeared in a cloud of smoke as Mika passed out. Kakashi and Naruto went after Deidara as Kakashi left a clone to watch over Mika until the others came.

Mika bolted up almost knocking Sakura over in the process as she took in a deep breath of air and looked around. They were surrounded by Suna ninja. Wait where was Gaara? Mika looked around frantically as Sakura helped her up.

"Calm down Mika, it`s ok" Sakura helped Mika stand as the ninja moved aside to reveal Gaara standing behind them. "Gaara is fine, Granny Chiyo gave her life to save him.."

Mika smiled, tears coming from her eyes seeing Gaara standing again. She broke free from Sakura's grasp, and tried to run to Gaara only to fall and be caught by his sand and brought to him.

"Mika… From what I have been told you risked everything for me and more. My sister was right, I didn't see your beauty or my true feelings… I know this might not be the most appropriate time event wise for this but I think you will understand that this could only be done now.." Gaara said smiling as a sand arm came from behind him.

Mika gasped as she saw the hand holding a Desert Rose. She carefully took the rose from the hand and then realized what Gaara meant when she saw the sun setting behind them. Gaara and Mika watched the rose as the last rays of the sun hit it just right as it started to glow, a brilliant rainbow of colors shining over the two of them.

Mika looked at Gaara, more tears coming from her eyes, she was speechless. Gaara smiled at her and wiped the tears from her eyes pulling her close to him as he wrapped his arms around her. The village watching as they hugged.

"I love you Mika Kyosei"


	9. Love has Bloomed

**Chapter 9 – Love has Bloomed**

**AN: Sorry for almost a whole years writers block. I had problems in life and school and it just killed my creativity for writing. But after today's Naruto episode it finally broke my block. So as promised here is a chapter devoted to Gaara and Mika.**

Things were finally getting back to normal in Suna after Dedara and Sasori's attack on the village. There had been a very lavish funeral service for Granny Chiyo, which the entire village attended, and Gaara was recovering nicely. The limited damage to the village, thanks to Gaara's efforts, was quickly cleaned up and the village started preparing a celebration for the return of their Kazekage and the sacrifice he gave for the village.

"NO! I will NOT wear that… it too girly!" Mika said as she blushed and fought with Temari over what she was going to wear at the celebration and for her first official date with Gaara.

"But it is so cute, you will look so beautiful in it and I know that Gaara will love it. Besides this is also your first date, you two will have to look presentable since you're now dating my brother." Temari said as she started picking out accessories to go with the kimono she had apparently decided that Mika was going to be wearing.

Mika finally gave in and stopped protesting as she realized that Temari was not going to let her win at all in this battle and decided to control what little input that Temari was giving he as to what she would be wearing.

"Hey how about we go get something small for lunch? I know there will be plenty of food at the celebration but I'm starving and I need something to tide me over until then." Temari asked.

After spending about three hours shopping for clothes and visiting almost every dress store in town, Mika was ecstatic that Temari was finally going to give her a break. Mika was never one to enjoy clothes shopping and it seems that Temari has been going a bit overboard over her younger brother saying he loves a girl. Though a lot of this could be her own way of dealing with almost losing both of her brothers.

"Sounds good to me, and since I haven't been able to get a word in all day with you… I am deciding where we are going to eat and I want to go to Izmi." Mika said as she headed off in the direction of the restaurant.

Temari and Mika took up a whole booth at the restaurant as their shopping bags took up one whole side of the table. Mika ordered some rice balls and Temari had some green tea mochi. The food was just what they needed and Temari decided to make small talk and get some gossip out of Mika. She looked over to Mika and smirked.

"So Mika, since you have been dating my brother I have heard a few things from the service staff at the Kage manor." Temari said smiling.

"Heard things? W..what things have you been hearing Temari-Sama?" Mika said blushing slightly.

"Nothing too detailed, just that most of your clothes have been moved into Gaara's room and you two are now sharing the room. That since then, they haven't seen Gaara wandering the property at night like he normally does. And that a few times the entrance to the wing has been blocked off by Gaara's sand a few times…. You wouldn't happen to know why that might be, would you Mika?" Temari said.

Mika had dropped the rice ball she was eating half way through Temari's question and was now blushing a deep red. She had hopped a conversation like this would never come up, at least not this soon. She didn't know what to say and already knew what Temari was guessing at. She knew the longer she stayed silent the worse it was looking for her.

"I…I…I have no idea what you're talking about. Yes, I have moved some of my clothes into his room and we have slept in the same bed a few times but that is all that is going on. I normally go to sleep before him and he is gone when I wake up. Though since he didn't sleep before anyways I have no idea what he has been doing while I was asleep. Why does everyone think we are doing something!" Mika said kinda hastely.

"Doing anything? I didn't say anything about that. So are you no longer…." Temari said smiling, before Mika cut her off.

"CHECK PLEASE!" Mika said as she hastily flagged someone over so they could pay for their meal. Mika paid for the food and started getting ready to leave.

"OH MY GOD, Your aren't are you!" Temari said with wide eyes.

"ComeonwehavetogoitisalmosttimefortheceremonyandIn eedtogetchanged" Mika replied quickly as she grabbed a few bags and rushed out the door still blushing bright red as Temari ran to catch up to her.

They walked home in almost complete silence as Mika didn't say another word to Temari the whole walk back. This was not the way she wanted anyone to find out what her and Gaara had been doing, let alone Temari. She would not let this go easily and would keep prying until she got the answer she wanted.

When they finally got back to the house, Mika practically flew upstairs and to her and Gaara's room, and closed the door behind her. Gaara wasn't there, but that wasn't a surprise. There may be a celebration going on later tonight but Gaara was still Kazekage and would always have piles of work to do. Mika headed over to the bed with her bags and started pulling out her outfit for tonight and looked it over. It really was pretty, even though Temari didn't give her much choice in the outfit Mika had to admit that she really did like it. She was staring over the outfit and wondering if Gaara would like her in it, that was all that mattered to her.

"You know he is going to leave you soon enough…"

Mika looked up as she heard the voice and looked around seeing an empty room, she went to turn back to the bed when her view changed and she got a scowl on her face.

"Oh, I thought I heard an idiot talking." Mika said to the caged figure in front of her.

"Well it is nice to see you to…I liked the other you better…" Kokuei said behind the bars as he started at Mika. "He will leave you though, don't think that he won't. He is no long a jinchuriki and now can have a normal life and meet someone who can't go on a rampage if she gets too emotional. He will leave…"

"Yea, because you are a relationship expert now? Tell me, how many people have you dated while trapped in that scroll for years on end? None? I thought so…" Mika replied obviously annoyed but in the back of her mind was a nagging feeling that Kokuei was right.

"You can't hide your fears from me, we share the same body. I can feel your doubt, feel it pulling at the back of your mind, feel you questioning if what I am saying has some truth to it." Kokuei smirked.

"Gaara loves me, he said so in front of the whole village. And that was after he already had Shukaku removed from him so your assumption is wrong…" Mika replied.

"Oh sure, he had just been revived from the dead and you were the only girl that he really had any lasting contact with. Of course he would say that to you, he was happy to be alive. But that will wear off and he will treat you just like everyone else. Nice to you and everything, but knowing in an instant you can turn into a killing machine. It won't last forever and you will be forever alone, never anyone to love." Kokuei just smirked as he finished and went silent he knew he had gotten to her.

"shut up….shut UP…SHUT UP!" Mika screamed until a voice broke through and she found herself back in the bedroom and she heard knocking.

"Mika-Sama is everything ok in there? It's Natari."

Mika blushed as she headed to the door and opened it to see a redheaded sand shinobi who was part of the staff at the manor.

"I'm sorry Natari, I am fine. It's nothing. Everything is ok." Mika said as she headed back over to the bed.

Natari nodded and followed her into the room and saw the dress on the bed.

"That is a very pretty dress Mika-sama, you will look beautiful in it… Do you need any help getting ready for the party?"

"Yea, I could probably use the help, I have never dressed up before and kimonos just confuse me a bit as how to put them on…" Mika said as she blushed a bit.

"Oh that's no problem at all. And you really should dress up more often. You can't really enjoy being in shinobi gear all the time do you?" Natari asked as Mika started undressing.

Mika didn't reply and just nodded at Natari's question. The truth was that she actually felt normal when she was wearing her shinobi gear, anything else made her feel vulnerable. She stripped down to her underwear and followed Natari's directions for getting the kimono on properly.

After she was finally dressed properly, Mika walked over to the mirror and almost gasped. She didn't recognize her reflection and didn't think it was real until Natari showed up behind her and started putting a ribbon in her hair. Mika could help but hold back a sob of joy at where she was right now.

"Thanks for helping me get ready Natari. Now you should go an hurry up and get ready yourself. I expect to see you at the celebration as well." Mika said as she gave Natari a hug.

"You're welcome Mika-Sama and I can't wait to see you there as well next to Gaara-Sama." Natari replied with a smile as she headed off to get changed herself.

Mika headed to the foyer where she ran into Temari and Kankuro all dressed and ready, just waiting on her and Gaara. Temari smiled as she saw Mika come down the stairs and Kankuro gasped a bit and gave a whistle that earned him a bash on the head from Temari. Mika chuckled a bit and gave Kankuro a _serves you right_ look.

"You look beautiful Mika. Told ya." Temari said smiling

"Yea, beautiful…" Kankuro replied as he was rubbing his head where he got it.

"So are we just waiting for Gaara then? Is he on his way?" Mika asked the two.

"Yea he should be on his way now, he just needed to finish a bit of wor…" Temari and Kankuro both said before they stopped mid-sentence.

Gaara was at the top of the stairs and staring at Mika speechless. He couldn't believe that this was the same girl that came to Suna a few years ago, who has a biju locked inside her, who he spared with, and who just recently was ready to give her life to save him. He was at a loss for words. This girl standing in front of him was beautiful, almost fragile, as if she would break if not handled gently. Mika was in a beautiful light pink kimono with a cherry blossom design and a red ribbon in her hair. He slowly walked down the stairs, still in shock and over to her where he finally found his voice.

"You look wonderful Mika, I can hardly believe you are the same girl…" said Gaara as he pulled Mika into a hug and kissed her. "How was I so lucky as to have met someone like you."

Mika smiled as they kissed and returned the hug tightly. This had to be a dream. Gaara broke off the hug and looked over to Temari and Kankuro, who was still rubbing his head, and raised an eyebrow.

"You ok Kankuro?" Gaara asked and Temari shot Kankuro a dirty look.

"Yea, I'm fine. I got hurt earlier and its just still bugging me a bit." Kankuro replied.

The group then headed out into town, where the main street had been decorated and vendors had set up mini stands selling food and drinks, gifts, games, and so much more. The street was packed with what seemed like the whole village as everyone was celebrating. The group had to stop almost every ten feet as another person wanted to thank Gaara for what he did for the village. Temari and Kankuro got annoyed of this easily and left Gaara and Mika on their own.

After a while Mika was finally to get some uninterrupted time with Gaara as they bought some food and played a few of the games, he won her a wolf plush from an accuracy game. Mika held it close as she rested her head on Gaara's shoulder as the evening wore on.

Finally, as the night was coming to an end everyone started to gather in the nearby park for the fireworks show. The couple moved along with the group and Mika sighed a bit at seeing how crowded the area was, there wouldn't be any good spots by the time they got there. Gaara noticed this and spoke up.

"I am sure we could ask if a nice spot could be found for us Mika-Chan. I doubt anyone would object to is, considering part of this celebration is about me…" Gaara said.

"No. It's not fair to everyone who got there before us. I don't want to steal someone else's spot, I would feel bad." Mika replied as she looked around trying to find a half decent spot they could take.

Gaara didn't blame Mika for her choice, but he still wanted her to have a good time and enjoy the fireworks. He smiled as he finally came up with a solution. He grabbed Mika and pulled her off to the side and before she could protest or ask what he was doing, they started floating up into the sky on a sand cloud. Mika turned around to face Gaara and smiled, giving him a kiss. Gaara expanded the sand cloud so the two of them could lay down as they drifted above the village. The two cuddled up close to each other and watched as the fireworks show starts.

Mika smiled as she snuggled up close to Gaara and rested her head on his chest and held him close as the fireworks exploded in the sky before them. The show was so beautiful and she couldn't be watching it with anyone else more special then Gaara.

Gaara wrapped his arms around Mika as they watched the show and smiled. Mika slowly fell asleep in his embrace. He slowly stroked her hair as she fell asleep on him. He looked to the fireworks and couldn't help but be awestruck at where he was right now. He had just saved his village, was brought back from the dead, and now had a very beautiful girl who he loved very much. He didn't want to move after the fireworks ended and instead had his sand cloud drift them back to the Kage Manor.

Gaara used his sand to gently move Mika to the bed. He carefully strips her down and gets her dressed into her pajamas. He tucks her into the bed and then lays on the side opposite her and looks out the window at the night sky as Mika sleeps peacefully next to him.


End file.
